Sofía and her sisters were sitting on a blanket in the shade of an ancient willow tree. They were enjoying the sweets their mother had prepared and pretending that everything was fine. However, the young woman couldn't stop thinking about Pablo Ferreira and her cousins, from whom they hadn't heard in hours. She had a bad feeling. She felt that something terrible had happened, and she was not wrong.Shortly before sunset, the young women saw a cart approaching. The oxen were moving at full speed, leaving a dense trail of dust behind them."Thank God!" exclaimed Amanda with relief.They stood up and began to gather what was left of their picnic. They wanted to be at the estate in time to receive their cousins.Their parents and uncles had gone to the market that was set up on weekends in the town square, so only they were there to receive the young men. The first to get off was Pablo, who greeted the girls with a nod and gave Sofía an indecent look. He was followed by Sebastián, who took a few seconds to help Diego, who was groaning in pain.Sofía's heart seemed to stop at that moment. The sleeve of her cousin's shirt was torn and covered in blood."For the love of God! What happened?" Sofía asked, running towards him.Diego was pale and had lost a lot of blood. He spoke, and his voice sounded harsh and broken:"A beast tore up my arm."The sisters exchanged looks filled with fear and astonishment. A moment later, the driver whipped the animals and sped away."Amanda, go get clean cloths to stop the bleeding! I'll boil some water," Isabel instructed, keeping calm.Sebastián helped Diego into the living room and they sat on the sofa."Take this off!" ordered Sebastián, trying to peel away the fabric of the shirt stuck to his brother's arm."No," Diego refused, embarrassed.Sofía approached and tenderly stroked her cousin's forehead. His cheeks were flushed, and his eyes were full of tears. It must hurt a lot."Please, let me treat you," she asked, kneeling beside him.He nodded and let Sofía carefully remove his shirt. He couldn't help but moan in pain as the blood-soaked fabric peeled away from his arm, taking some skin with it."I'm sorry," she murmured.Isabel and Amanda returned with a jug of water and some cloths. Sebastián stood up to let them arrange the things on the sofa and sat at the table with Pablo."Tell us what happened," Isabel demanded from Sebastián.Sofía soaked a cloth and began to wash the wound."We met Juan Bustamante and one of his sons at his house. His wife and daughters weren't there; maybe they had gone to the market..." Sebastián began to narrate."Get to the point, for God's sake! What attacked Diego?" Isabel was starting to lose patience."I'm getting there. You can't start telling a story from the end," he added.Sofía, Diego, and everything around them were stained crimson. If seeing her convalescent son didn't give María Esther a heart attack, the state of the living room would. It looked like the scene of a crime."As I was saying, the Bustamantes asked us to take some boxes to a man named Antony Van Ewen. We didn't use the traditional roads, of course, because they're patrolled by royalist soldiers. We ventured through some catacombs built beneath the city. Pablo guided us through several passages until the torchlight showed us an enormous and eerie nose."Sebastián paused dramatically, and Amanda asked:"The nose of what attacked Diego?""No. The nose belonged to a human, though he was quite ugly, to be honest.""Was it Antony Van Ewen?" Amanda asked again."No. It was Simón, Antony's secretary. Behind him was the Englishman with about five or six dogs. Anyway, we approached to make the exchange when Diego had the bright idea of stepping on the tail of a sleeping puppy. In short, the dog woke up and attacked him.""It wasn't a puppy, and those dogs looked more like wolves!" Diego complained.Pablo let out a stifled laugh."I brought needle and thread," Isabel informed."Thank you," said Sofía, who hadn't noticed when her sister had left the room."I don't think it's necessary," Diego said with a trembling voice and made a move to get up.Sofía stopped him by placing a hand on his chest. Her cousin had grown. He was taller, and his shoulders had broadened since the last time she had seen him without a shirt."Don't be silly! If I don't stitch you up now, you're going to bleed to death," Sofía scolded him."It's not as bad as it looks. If you're lucky, you'll end up with a great scar," Sebastián added, trying to cheer him up."Do you call that luck?" Isabel questioned, confused."Of course. Everyone knows that women love scars," he explained, and Pablo laughed again."Stop teasing and come help me! Hold Diego so he doesn't move and I can close his wound!" Sofía shouted, angry.She didn't like it at all when they teased Diego, especially when he was experiencing such pain. He had always been good to her. He was her best friend, and if he couldn't defend himself, she had no choice but to help him.Pablo and Sebastián approached and held Diego so Sofía could take care of his arm. The young woman took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself, avoiding thinking that what she was about to stitch was a person. With so much blood and Diego's screams, it became more difficult. She gathered her courage and tried to control the trembling of her hands to achieve a decent stitch. Midway through the process, Diego fainted. This made Sofía's task a little easier, as he had stopped screaming and moving.The door opened, and upon seeing such a scene, María Esther let out a heart-wrenching scream. Catalina put a hand to her mouth and left the room, followed by her husband."Is he still alive?" Óscar asked in a thread of a voice.Sofía swallowed hard. She had been so focused on closing her cousin's wound that she hadn't bothered to check his breathing.