Norah and her friend Jean were delighted the last day of boarding school had finally arrived. Not seeing her father and brother plus her beloved Billabong for ten months had been hard to take. But after some shopping in Melbourne, Mr Linton, Jim and his friend Wally, as well as Norah and Jean, were on the train and heading for home. The excitement of seeing Billabong again, Brownie and the men, the horses – Norah hoped the holidays wouldn’t go too quickly.

It was after Christmas, and the middle of the night when the crackling of fire woke them – the devastation of the stables (Norah managed to get the horses out) and part of the homestead was complete. But the reason it started – and why – was one they were all determined to discover.