It's 1840, and life in colonial Australia is brutal. Thirteen-year-old convict Tom Clay lives in an outback shepherd’s hut, protecting his master’s sheep from wild dogs. He keeps company with fellow shepherd Rowdy, who barely stops talking. The sheep dogs are Tom's real friends. When a murderous former camp-mate returns, bent on silencing witnesses to crimes he committed as a shepherd, Tom and Rowdy must flee into the bush. The novel covers only a few days, and moves at a breakneck speed that matches the panic and movements of young Tom as he fights to survive against a ruthless pursuer.