Part 3, Chapter 5, The Burial Fields Summary

Rene, Chichi, Luisa, Marcelo, a driver, and a soldier all travel by car over the battlefields where Julio was killed. They are searching for Julio's grave. The senator arranged the trip but could not come because of rumors of a change in the cabinet. There are hundreds of tombs, most marked in such a way that the markings are quickly fading. Many of the graves hold two, three, or four men. Behind the white crosses there are larger mounds marked as the graves of German soldiers, some containing more than three hundred men.

The car stops from time to time, and Chichi and Rene get out to read the markers. It is difficult to distinguish one group of markers from another, and the fading writing is also a problem. Marcelo watches the graves move past...