Book IV of The Australians. When seventeen year old Jessica India Maclaine flees from her sadistic stepfather and hides aboard the Hindostan at Portsmouth as it's prepared for a voyage to New South Wales, she has no idea what fate has in store for her. The infant colony is in turmoil. The deposed Governor Bligh is preparing to leave for England, determined to bring his enemies to justice. His successor, Lachlan Macquarie - in whose house Jessica finds employment - is faced with making New South Wales a self-supporting and prosperous settlement after the havoc wreaked by the Rum Corps. He's also in line for plenty of hostility as he attempts to ensure that emancipated convicts have the same rights as free settlers. And now many share a dream of crossing the Blue Mountains in search of the new pastureland essential to the colony's survival.