Ultima, la Grande

Ultima is an old woman who has a gift for healing and is believed to be taught by the flying man from Las Pasturas. She can't live in her village that is destroyed by war and economic difficulties anymore. That’s why she accepts the suggestion of her friend Luna (who is also a mother of Antonio) to live with her family. She spends a lot of time communicating with the boy, and they become really close to each other. Ultima helps Antonio to understand how the world works and to come through people's preconceptions, untruth, bitterness, and cruelty. The woman suffers because of distrust from members of the community. Even those people, who were saved with the help of her healing, are not ready to defend her if someone wants to harm her. She is killed by a generous man in front of Antonio. Ultima does not only accept her death but also helps Antonio to put up with this. She spends all her life helping others. Ultima has played an important role in the formation of Antonio's outlook. She became an example of how a person can still be kind and heal others even amid the war and terrible social and economic problems.

Gabriel Márez

Gabriel is the father of the main character Antonio. He is married to Maria. He used to be a vaquero that means that he was a cowboy earlier. Having given birth to Antonio, his wife convinces him to forget about his current style of life in order to begin to start with a clean slate. Now he seems to miss those times because one thing that he appreciates the most in his life is freedom. Gabriel is not respected by another cowboy anymore. Because of it, some drinking problems arose. Unlike his wife, who pushes Antonio to become a farmer, he never imposes his view concerning the future of boy to him. Sometimes he accepts the fact of magic existing, but he is rather a realist who sees the world in a more rational way. He cannot imagine himself staying at the same place for a long time because the passion for wondering is an integral part of his nature. Gabriel has a dream to travel to California with Antonio, but it will never come true.