A story in which a retired captain arrives on a mission to an Andean village, discovering mysterious situations that do not coincide with the reality we know, finding himself at a crossroads. Captain Sulbarán has recovered from a war wound. He has asked to be discharged and is dedicated to carry out errands throughout the territory. On a special mission, with no other instructions than a letter addressed to the civil authority and a considerable pay, he arrives at a distant village in the Andes. Attacked by bandits on the way, he manages to get away with it thanks to his military skills and arrives at the town where he is very well received by Don Antonio Briceño, the civil authority. The next day he learns of the unusual events that take place there, starting with the church, which has been closed for fifty years, some strange people who wander around the town during the day and night with black ribbons tied around their arms, a restless boy who is actually over sixty years old, and a beautiful woman, with whom he falls deeply in love and whom he may lose if, contradictorily, he manages to fulfill his mission in that "Village of the Dead".