Having lost the Civil War in Spain, four republican rebels lead a fugitive existence deep in the Cantabrian mountains. Wounded and hungry the rebels are frequently drawn from the safety of the mountains into the villages they once inhabited, risking their lives and the lives of anyone helping them. Faced with the lonely mountains, its harsh winters and unforgiving summers, it is only a matter of time before the Fascists hunt them down. Llamazares's lyrical prose serves to animate the wilderness, making the landscape as much a witness to the brutality of the Franco regime as the persecuted villagers and republicans.