The heroes, trying to make their way as far as the unoccupied territory in the southernmost portion of Zepeda, encounter bad weather typical of this time of the year (deep winter). They are travelling aboard a small fishing boat and hope to reach the city San Augustin where they can get a better vessel, but the enormous crate they are carrying for Lucas's not-quite-so-secret Los Vagos contacts make the boat even harder to steer in this weather. They try to make it into the harbour of a small fishing village to escape the storm, but end up crashing on the breakers, their boat impaled on the rocks. They swim to shore and find refuge at El Pollo Rojo, an inn in the village of Villa de los Gordos.
When the weather calms down a bit they manage to rent a boat to go recover the crate, but the fishing boat they arrived on is too damaged to be repaired in time to return to Tarago. They decide to rent a cart to continue to San Augustin, thirty miles south, but the bad weather also makes the roads impassable for the moment. Don Juan and Mendoza pass the time and earn a little money by playing music; this makes the innkeeper happy since it drums up business. The two can really use the money, since the mysterious woman who impersonated Melisandre for a few days in La Reina del Mar has robbed everyone blind.
The heroes are getting impatient, sitting at the inn, but the arrival of a thin young man provides a distraction. Coming in from the rain one evening, he approaches a man drinking at the bar: "Ramon, I'm so glad to see you're back!" His accent betrays his Avalonian origins. But the man Ramon turns away: "I'm done with this, Thomas, find somebody else to help you." They exchange a few more words in a low voice, then the thin young Avalonian walks away, scowling. About half an hour later, a beautiful woman walks in from the rainy night and gives a cheerful greeting to Ramon; the two speak in low voices, then leave the inn together.
The heroes, like most of the patrons, notice the little play but do not get involved, until the next day they see a man from the local militia nail a handbill to the wall of the common room: a sizeable reward has been offered for the capture of a bandit called "El Baston." On the picture, they recognize the thin Avalonian! They ask a few questions and learn that a group of bandits called the Wolf Pack has been robbing travellers in the area; their leader, "El Lobo," was captured and executed just a few days ago but his right-hand man, El Baston, is now leading the band.
The heroes reason that, on the one hand, even if the rain stopped and the roads dried up enough for them to travel by cart with the enormous crate, they would make an easy target for the Wolf Pack; and on the other hand, they could really use the reward money since they may not even have enough to pay for said cart. They decide to capture El Baston. They are joined by a young woman called Alicia who was also stuck at the inn, and offers her services as a swordswoman and a guide. They decide that they must first find Ramon and hear what he knows of Thomas. Asking around, they learn that Thomas and the woman are staying at the Casa del Toro Negro, a hostelry in the village. Mendoza and Alicia go check him out and approach him under the pretense of wanting to join the Wolf Pack. Ramon refuses to have anything to do with them. Then Don Juan tries to talk to Ramon and the woman Helena, and discovers the two are actually intending on capturing the bandit. Everyone agrees to join forces.
Ramon is a former member of the Wolf Pack, now reformed, and knows the bandits' old hideout, a complex of caves. He guides everyone there, and Ferdinand, Alicia and Mendoza go scout since they are the stealthiest. In the dark tunnel, Alicia spots a trap bell but Ferdinand ignores her warning and trips an alarm. The bandits star pouring out of the main cave, while the heroes left outside run in to the scouts' rescue. There is much fighting, but many blows and bullets seem to hit Ferdinand instead of their intended targets. When the corporal ends up even shattering his broadsword, he believes himself a man cursed.
Finally Lucas corners the bandit El Baston, but the man is not about to fight for (or with) honour, and pulls a pistol on him. Mendoza prevents El Baston from shooting Lucas, but the bandit manages to run away. Most of the rest of the Wolf Pack is captured or down however, and their trove recovered. The heroes make sure most of the loot is returned or given in compensation to victims, but they receive the reward and find themselves in better financial situation when they return to Villa de los Gordos. Now if it would only stop raining, they could continue their trip towards San Augustin...
