Sequel to the novel "Shadow of the Northern Orchid".
This nineteenth-century novel begins in London 1867. Abigail Baldwin, recently widowed and pregnant faces an unpleasant decision. Abigail battles within herself; the determined woman against a lifetime of obeyance to her autocratic father. What will convince her to leave a comfortable lifestyle and join her twin brother? Doctor George Goldfinch plans to emigrate to Queensland where he hopes to set up a medical practice in the fledging town of Brisbane.
Seven years later finds the Goldfinch Entourage aboard the "Northern Orchid" on a journey to Cooktown in North Queensland. This ill-equipped settlement is host to thousands of miners travelling to and from the goldfields on the Palmer River. Disillusioned miners are returning to Cooktown in poor physical condition. Many have died on the treacherous track. The group is here on a mercy mission as well as to assuage a need for adventure.
Onboard ship is the stowaway Maureen Ryan who is on a quest of her own. She must find her father, a gold prospector, whom she hopes will be at the recent gold-find on the Palmer River.
Abigail takes the young woman into her care offering support for the girl and her search.
Cooktown reveals no evidence of Bert Ryan. Maureen realises she must make the dangerous trek to the Palmer River Goldfields if she is to find her father. Dressed as a young boy, Maureen joins a packhorse teamster, Silas, trading between Cooktown and the Palmer River goldfields. He claims to know Bert Ryan, her father. Will her disguise survive a two-week journey along a 200-mile track which claims the lives of miners seeking the gold on a daily basis?
Can this innocent young woman trust Silas?