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 "Tommy" 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?