School begins and Antonio feels older than his classmates. His thoughts cluster around the opposing concepts of good and evil; particularly, why God allows evil to go unpunished. He begins to pray more regularly to the Virgin, convinced that his first communion will bring understanding and answers.
Sitting under the juniper tree where Narciso was killed, dreaming of meeting the Virgin, Antonio encounters Tenorio and immediately forms a cross with a thumb and forefinger. Tenorio curses him and threatens to kill Ultima. Antonio rushes to warn Ultima, who wants to know if Tenorio touched him. She says that Tenorio returned to the juniper tree because his conscience knew that he had committed a mortal sin and it was seeking absolution. She assures Antonio that she will not be ambushed like Narciso.
