It grew darker and darker and then, to our surprise, the first snow of winter began to fall, huge flakes drifting calmly down

And that is exactly what we did. We sang all the way home on that mad, wild drive through the dark night, gravel flying around us.

We arrived in Sandyhills as dawn broke – a wonderful red wash of light covering the sky, deepening in intensity until an enormous sun appeared over the far rim of the horizon. We were still alive!

Almost as suddenly as the soldiers had stopped for us, they drew up when we entered the empty streets of Sandyhills. The young driver slid from his seat and undid the tow rope.

“Great ride!” he said. “Great morning! See you around, folks!” and they were off again in the direction of the army camp.

He had given us no time to thank him or offer him payment, which was perhaps just as well.

Ronald and I were so stunned with relief that I wondered afterwards if any words would have come.

The visit to the Knight farm was the last of our Sunday excursions. After that it was harvest time.

Jacobs, Ronald and Adrian took it in shifts to drive the combine working day and night in this land of short growing seasons and long winters.

Pure gold

The prairies were pure gold now and the minds of men centred on cutting that gold down and extracting the seeds from the full bright ears of grain.

I saw little of Ronald in these busy harvest days and nights and when I did, he was usually too tired to say much.

The days were bright and warm but we knew winter was approaching fast.

We had been warned over and over again of its early arrival. However, it was hard to believe during these golden days that it would ever come.

I knew we would be leaving Jacobs’ place although nothing had been said. In spare moments I cleaned windows until they shone and scrubbed floors ’til they came up white. I wanted to leave the house as clean as possible.

It wasn’t until early in September when the harvest was almost over that Jacobs mentioned it to Ronald.

“Well, what are you folks figuring on doing this winter? The house you’re in ain’t just suitable for winter living on account of it havin’ bin moved around.

“I guess it could be fixed up but if you do stop over I can only offer you half pay.”

Ronald thanked him for his offer and said that we would probably be moving on.

That night he wrote a letter to our railway sponsors giving them our position and saying we found it hard enough living on a full wage let alone one cut in half for the winter months and could they possibly find us another job?

We got a quick reply telling us to pack up all our possessions and be at their office in Edmonton at 10am sharp on September 9, where a dairy farmer would be waiting to interview Ronald.

It didn’t give us much time. Ronald told Jacobs at the first opportunity. Jacobs wasn’t too pleased at the suddenness of it all.

“You’ll sure need to work up ’til the last minute,” he said. “There’s a lot needin’ doin’ around here yet!”

Excellent packer

Ronald promised Jacobs to work until the 8th, telling him he would need to go to Edmonton a day early to be in time for the appointment.

Jacobs gave an annoyed grunt but made no further comment. And so it was that Ronald was kept busy until 10pm on September 7.

I had been hard at work all week and by the 8th all our possessions were ready for Ronald to pack into the car.

We wanted if possible to take all that we had with us, leaving only the packing cases behind. Everything, somehow, would have to be squeezed into the Chevrolet.

Ronald had told me to leave this to him, priding himself on being an excellent packer, a past master at getting a lot into a little space.

On September 8 we woke to overcast skies. The boys were up before us, excited about the move to the city and eager to help their Dad pack the car.

Ronnie and Michael were apt to get in the way but Richard was a real help running with things from the house. As Ronald loaded the Chevrolet it grew darker and darker and then, to our surprise, the first snow of winter began to fall, huge flakes drifting calmly down.

The land seemed to accept them as a natural matter of course.

Although too busy to think of anything but the immediate job, my heart was as heavy as the morning skies.

I knew we must go but already I had put down tentative roots in this place. I liked this “living with the elements”.

I felt I had really got to know the summer face of Canada as it had always been. I felt part of this country, one with the bluebirds and the brown-eyedsusans.

It would have been interesting to stay and help the Jacobs fix up the house to make it habitable for winter.

Helpful

For all our grumbles about Jacobs’ faults, including his dangerous moods, he was an able, fair and in many ways, helpful man.

With the inability to sell grain we knew money would be tight for them but we just couldn’t afford to feed the children on the money they offered us. We had to move on. The afternoon was half over before we got everything packed into the car and were ready to go.

I wanted to get away at least before the girls got back from school.

They had been in the previous evening saying their goodbyes and Mandy, in particular, was upset. Large tears appeared in her ardent blue eyes.

“Don’t cry Mandy!” Richard said. “We’ll be back to see you soon.”

Adrian had been round to visit us too and we promised to write to him as soon as we settled somewhere giving him our address.

He promised to pay us a visit if we weren’t too far away.

As it was, we didn’t get away as soon as we hoped we would and the whole family came to see us off. (More tomorrow.)