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John and Polly meet.
"When Polly was eighteen, she went to work for Grossart Drapers in Carluke, where her brother Jim lived. Carluke was just twenty miles from Glasgow, in the heart of the Clyde Valley distrtct. Mr. Grossart was a good employer, treating his staff like family, and among the job's other attractions was a slim, handsome young man who worked there as a draper. His name was John Wilson." (pg. 7) -
John requests Polly's hand in marriage.
"A year after they met, he began to court her, and they fell in love. The Hutchinson family soon treated Jack, as he was called, as one of their own. Whomever Polly loved, they would love. And Wilson's family became fond of Polly. When Jack requested her hand in marriage in August 1906, all were pleased--and a bit relieved after Jack's dramatic announcement that if Polly wasn't allowed to marry him he would blow his brains out." (pg.8) -
John and Polly get married.
"They had known each other four years, courting for three of them, before they married on January 1, 1908. The young couple spent their honeymoon in Dublin." (pg.8) -
John and Polly's first child is born.
"In May 1909, a son, George, was born, and Polly had what she wanted in life: a home and family. Wilson was a good father. As soon as he could walk, the bou was his constant companion, following his father everywhere, "helping" with chores. Everyone commented on the close bond between father and son and on how good Jack was with the "wean". (pg.8) -
John moves from Scotland to Canada.
"But Jack Wilson had indeed developed an urge to travel. Swayed by the propaganda luring emigrants to the Canadian prairies, he bought a ticket to Saskatoon in the province of Saskatchewan. He would sail in July 1912." (pg.10) -
Polly gives birth to their second child.
"In October, John and Polly Wilson's second child was born, a girl. Polly nearly died when she was born, perhaps of puerperal (childbed) fever, always a danger in the days before antibiotics. Polly christened the little girl Helen after her grandmother, and they called her Ella to avoid confusion. If Polly hoped the news that he had a daughter would bring Jack home, she was disappointed. He said when he left it would take a year for people to forget the fiasco..." (pg. 17) -
John is recuited to the RNW Mounted Police.
"As soon as he heard war was declared, John WIlson headed for Prince Albert to enlist, but was rejected because of his weak lungs. Two weaks later, while walking down Main Street in Prince Albert, a poster on the side of the livery stable caught his eye. The Royal North West Mounted Police were looking for recruits. There were certain requirements--literacy, height, and so on, which he fulfilled. He went straight to their Prince Albert detatchment to inquire about enlisting." (pg.20) -
John moves to Blaine Lake.
"In the town of Blaine Lake, everyone noticed the new policeman who arrived in July 1915. Jack Wilson cut a striking figure in the RNWMP uniform...The duties of his new job took him away from Blaine Lake on a variety of missions: scouting for stills and on "lunatic detail"--the aprrehension and transportation of the insane to the Saskatchewan Hospital at North Battleford." (pg.23) -
John meets Jessie.
"The Pattersons' house was next door to the barn where Jack Wilson stabled his horse. In the summer of 1916, John Patterson, an affable man, invited the new Mountie home for supper, and there he met Jassie, a willowy sixteen-year-old with a lovely high-cheekboned face and thick brown hair. Gradually their house became the place he gravitated to when he had time to spare, and an extra place was often set at their table when Jack returned from his excursions into the countryside. (pg.25) -
John Wilson and John Patterson talk about marriage.
'"Jack, I need to talk to you, if you have a minute," Patterson said. He looked serious.
"Oh? What about?"
John Patterson took Wilson's arm and moved a few steps away from the front desk. He lowered his voice.
"It's about Jessie, you seeing Jessie, I mean. I want you to tell me...Well, you know there are rumours going around that you're a married man, and I have to ask if they're true."
"No, they're not true. I was married, but my wife died after I left the old country."
(pg.30) -
John diagnosed with tuberculosis.
'"I'm sorry to have to tell you, Jack, but you have TB."
"Oh, no." His head and shoulders slumped, his worst fears confirmed. "You're sure?"
"Yes. Ninety-nine per cent positive it's tuberculosis."
Tuberculosis. A dreaded word. Tantamount to a death sentence in 1917, almost thirty years before the discovery of the antibiotic streptomycin. He knew how deadly it was. Only ten per cent survived.' (pg.32) -
TB-stricken John moves in with Patterson's.
"Jack Wilson was a very sick man, far from home and family, with little money, no clothes but hand-me-downs, and no place to go, since the first sanitorium in the province would not open till October. The sight of that lonely tent on the edge of town as cool fall evenings drew in would have stirred pity in the hardest of hearts...Jessie Patterson did not have a hard heart, nor, it seems, did her parents. They did everything they could to help Wilson." (pg. 32) -
Period: to
John proposes to Jessie.
"And so Wilson lived through the long winter of 1917-1918, looked after primarily by Jessie, who, he said, was the soul of goodness. "She was good to me above everybody else," he would often say later. He was determined, if he recovered, to spend a lifetime repaying Jessie for her kindness. At some point that winter, he asked Jessie to marry him." (pg. 33) -
The sixth Hogmanay without John.
"When they were all assembled and had exchanged news, Polly knew the moment had come..."I must go to Canada and look for Jack."..."Six and a half years is long enough to wait."..."To a healthy and prosperous year for everyone, and a happy new year to us all." The grownups clinked glasses. "And to a safe and successful journey for our Polly," William said. Grateful tears filled Polly's eyes as her family drank to that' (pg.38) -
John forges letter to Jessie from his sister, Mary.
"Dear Jessie, John tried every way to get along with her [his "ex" wife] but it was no use. She was bad out and out. He has had a hard life, Jessie, but you are his first love and I know he will make you happy, he must love you very dear or he would not give up all his property for you. He is upright and honorable and you can trust your life to him...Good-bye, sister, Jessie, and may the blessing of a dying girl rest on you always. Your dying sister, Mary. (pg.41) -
Polly leaves Scotland to find John in Canada.
"The Maurentania dock at Halifax harbour at 11:28 am, April 12, 1918. The medical examination was short. The examiners were most interested in anyone showing signs of the dreaded eye disease trachoma. From there Polly passed through customs and on to the CPR train that would take her to the west...And finally, on April 18, Regina: clusters of buildings on a flat, muddy plain, with patches of dirty snow on their lee sides. (pg.45) -
John travels to Prince Albert to volunteer to go overseas.
'"We think if you phone the Prince Albert detachment, they might be able to tell you his whereabouts." He gave her the number and wished her well. With a deep breath, she cranked the phone again...To Wilson, the call for volunteers presented an opportunity to serve his country, and to straighten out his personal life...'I'm sorry, Jack, We have far more men than we need."...The phone on the superintendent Routledge speaking."..."Yes. Just a moment, please. He's right here."..."Jack?"' (pg.47) -
Polly and John meet in Saskatoon.
"As Jack Wilson drove to meet his wife the next day, his mind was working overtime. After the initial shock of the phone call, all the ramifications of the lie he'd been living leapt to his mind...And suddenly there he was. Not in uniform as she'd imagined him, but in a tweed suit that hung from his shoulders, and pale and thin enough to break her heart. Then his arms were around her." (pg.50) -
Polly discovers a letter from Jessie.
'"Polly, what's the matter, dear?"
"I've thought for a long time Jack has another girl, and now I know." Eileen dried her hand on her apron and sat down across from her. "You mean a ladyfriend? How do you know?" "I found a letter from her in Jack's pocket. She thinks he's saving up to marry her",,,Polly did confront Jack about the letter, asking him how Jessie could think they were getting married. She sat on the bed while Jack stood by the door, as if he couldn't wait to leave. (pg. 59-60) -
John murders Polly.
"Jack hadn't moved from her side of the car. He was very pale, standing there in dim light, perspiration on his upper lip and forhead. Why was he looking at her like that? Polly felt a sudden start of dread. Jack still had the gun. Why didn't he put it away? It was getting too dark to shoot. But he was raising the gun again. She looked up, but there were no geese. She turned back and looked straight into the shotgun's double barrel, inches from her face. "No, Jack, don't!" (pg. 79) -
John and Jessie get married.
"At the lines "Till death us do part," Wilson gave his bride a particularly soulful look. His narrow hand trembled as he slipped a gold band on her finger. "I now pronounce you man and wife."...At the door, Wilson gripped the minister's hand as if he'd just given him a million dollars or saved him from some terrible fate. His hand was cold and damp." (pg.87)
