One evening, after a day of harvesting, the adults talk about Tenorio's two remaining daughters building a coffin of cottonwood branches; witches, they say, cannot be buried in coffins made of pine, piñon, or cedar. They think that the sisters will probably perform a Black Mass, a ritual which Antonio dreams about. In his dream, he looks into a coffin and sees Ultima; simultaneously, he feels himself being picked up and comforted.
Next day, Antonio joins Ultima and other people on the street to watch the Trementinas as they approach — Tenorio on horseback, a black patch over an eye socket, and his two black-clad daughters in a horse-drawn wagon that carries a casket. At the church, the priest bars entry, and Tenorio turns his horse around, glances at Ultima, and vows revenge.
The harvest completed, Antonio returns to school, where he tells Samuel that he has seen the golden carp. Prophetically, Samuel warns him that schoolboys may soon taunt him into fighting about Ultima and her alleged witchcraft. Later, Tenorio and Narciso fight about Ultima in the town saloon, and Samuel tells Antonio that the conflict over whether or not Ultima is a witch will end only when blood is spilled.
The school Christmas pageant is chaotic, and, relieved that it is over, Antonio creeps slowly home through a fierce blizzard. In front of the saloon, he sees Tenorio and Narciso fighting in the thick, blinding snow and cursing one another. Eventually Tenorio leaves, threatening to kill Narciso and Ultima. Narciso braves the blizzard winds until he reaches Rosie's, where he calls Andrew to the door and warns him of Tenoroo's threat to Ultima. Andrew, his arm around one of Rosie's girls, isn't unduly worried and goes back inside. Antonio follows Narciso silently as he leans forward into the icy wind on his way to warn Ultima. When they are on the goat path leading up to the family home, a shot rings out, men struggle, another shot is fired, and Tenorio flees. Antonio kneels beside the dying Narciso, who asks Antonio to hear his confession; afterward, Antonio makes the sign of the cross over him, then sobs uncontrollably.
