A teenage girl in Sydney, Australia, records how her family is devasted by her older sister's death and by the bizarre behavior of her gifted younger brother, who seems to be possessed by a coldly unfeeling entity.
Aided only by a trained bear and a monkey, a magician and an acrobat challenge the power of the evil Red King who rules the Forest Lands by spreading the red fever to those who refuse to pay him tribute.
While his family is visiting a remote Australian valley Kenny, a gentle young man with the mind of a three-year-old, is possessed by a hate-filled, long-dead convict, thus becoming a pawn of vengeful ghosts bent on reenacting an old tragedy.
Given to the Great Father on the night of his birth, Boy is reared by a dog in a village whose people barely tolerate him, despite signs that he is favored, then travels far, striving to find his rightful place in the brutal world of humans.