Pierre Guéant

An art dealer wants to buy a Modigliani, which is tattooed on the back of an old soldier.

Winter 1970, France. In a small village covered in snow, an outcast bonesettler starts predicting the return of wolves in the area, but nobody wants to believe his superstitious omens. Until one day, a young man is attacted by a wolf.

Having completed his studies in England, Don César returned to his family's farm in Sardinia. He finds that the local peasants are living in terror of a cattle rustler, Marras, and his accomplices. Don César begins by lodging a complaint against Marras. But this was only the beginning of his plan: to catch the thieves in the act, he installed an alarm system around his property. One night, the beam of a searchlight sweeps across the property and the bandits must flee as quickly as possible. In revenge, Marras kidnaps the daughter of César's foreman. But she cleverly deceives her guardian and escapes. Marras sets off in search of Maria. Meanwhile, César and his foreman scour the region for her. It all ends in violence and bloodshed. Marras and the foreman are shot dead. César and the girl are unharmed.

In 1822, Toussaint Rouveyre, a former captain in Napoleon's army, returned to his village in the Ardèche after the defeat at Waterloo and a seven-year stay in America. There, he reunited with his family, persecuted by the Restoration regime. In order for his father to give him his share of the inheritance in advance of his permanent move to America, he needs the consent of his younger brother Antoine, a carpenter who is on the Compagnons' Tour de France. When Toussaint learns that his brother, a member of the Compagnons du Devoir (Devoirants) association, has been killed by a companion from the rival association, the Compagnons du Devoir de Liberté (Gavots), he is determined to find the murderer, a certain Tourangeau Sans-Quartier, and avenge his brother. To find this man, he joins the Compagnons du Devoir de Liberté incognito.