Antonio Marez tiene seis años cuando Última viene a quedarse con su familia. Última es una curandera, una persona que cura con hierbas y magia. Bajo su protección, Antonio va a explorar las ataduras de la familia que le rasgan y comprometen, y se va a descrubrir a si mismo en los secretos mágicos y el pasado pagano--legado mítico tan palpable como el catolicismo de América Latina.

"Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. Ultima is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will probe the family ties that bind and rend him as he discovers himself in the magical secrets of the pagan past-a mythic legacy as palpable as the Catholicism of Latin America. And at each life turn, there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world . . . and will nurture...

With Christmas only days away, it snows so heavily that Jacobo the wood carver and his visiting grandson are afraid the roads will not be cleared in time for the rest of the family to come from the city, and that a sick neighbor will not get the help he needs.