Home to Billabong, home to Australia after four long years of war. The Lintons - Norah, Jim, their father, David and Wally Meadows, receive a rapturous welcome when they return home. But they have not returned alone. With them are two young English friends, Bob Rainham and his sister Cecilia, or and "Tommy and " as she prefers to be called. Bob and Tommy have escaped from London's smog, an uncaring father and a spiteful stepmother to make a new life in Australia. The Lintons help them settle into Creek Cottage, their new home. But it is a year of cruel droughts and bushfires. Can the Rainhams survive near catastrophe, and will their sheer determination to succeed in their new country carry them through?