In 1897, Abby Barron, a young Irish-American girl, loses her cousin to a fire and with him the plans to escape Chicago to search for gold in the Yukon fields. A want-ad for a cook revives the plan and she soon hires on with Paddy and Tommy, a medicine-show man and his son. Despite Abby's wanderlust and Tommy's desire to settle down, the two fall in love. But it's a long road to fulfill Abby's dreams of reaching the Yukon--one that tests the bonds of love and uncovers long-held secrets of a family.