Southall, Ivan

Now in the custody of Preacher Tom, who believes him to have special powers, slow-witted Custard is forced to search for gold.

A raging fire spreading in the Australian bush cuts off the escape of the children and two old men entrusted to their care.

Rachel is petrified as she hurries home from her piano lesson on Election Eve of 1905. She sees a group of boys, overexcited after a fight at school, and runs into the forbidden bushlands of the Devil's Hot Pot to escape.

Handicapped by cerebral palsy and overprotected by his parents, a twelve-year-old, left alone for the first time, in a desperate need to exert his independence, does precisely what he has been forbidden to do.