When eleven year-old Drew and his five year-old sister Sammy are orphaned, they fear that they will be separated once they are sent to an orphanage. The children set out for Perth from the small country town of Wyanilling, blithely believing they will find a ship sailing to England and their grandparents. It is a desperate trek through the Australian bush; they are small and the bush is vast and trackless. The police are out in force, searching for them with trackers, rewards are offered and the story builds until politicians become involved in the plight of two small children, wandering the endlessness of the Australian bush alone.