It is deep winter 1969. As the Vietnam War drives young men north across the Canadian border, widower Jack’s quiet life is overturned by two accidents that happen on the bend in the road into town.

First comes a dog in a bad way. Next a draft-dodger, seriously injured, lying in the snow. Nothing to do with Jack, except that in both cases he is the first on the scene. Soon, Jack’s life is overtaken by a growing cast of characters—a vet doubling as a doctor, a retired nurse, Ellie, and her husband, Sergeant Karl Barnes, the area’s one and only officer of the law.

But Jack has a daughter, Sally, who isn’t convinced by the kindness of strangers, and comes to suspect that the two accident victims bring trouble.