Laughing River

He sleeps beside a horse, yet his sleep is restless, disturbed by the faint but definite growl. The sound comes seemingly from all directions, sometimes from the distant south, sometimes carried by the northern wind.

Little Tom has been by Big Tom’s side since before he can remember. In the waning years of the gold-rush, the pair wander nomadically until they are involved in a deadly altercation and must evade the authorities. When Little Tom is ultimately abandoned, he learns he must find his own way by any means possible. He is not alone, however, as he is guided by a mysterious magpie and haunted by the distant growl of the golden-eyed Beast.

For years he drifts. Changing names and companions wherever he goes, finding little more than deception and depraved violence. As an adult, he realises the only way to survive is to commit the same theft, betrayal and murder he has witnessed all his life. One brutal crime follows another, until he is revered and feared as one of the most dangerous bushrangers in the land, but he begins to wonder how far a person can go until they are beyond redemption.He sleeps beside a horse, yet his sleep is restless, disturbed by the faint but definite growl. The sound comes seemingly from all directions, sometimes from the distant south, sometimes carried by the northern wind.

Little Tom has been by Big Tom’s side since before he can remember. In the waning years of the gold-rush, the pair wander nomadically until they are involved in a deadly altercation and must evade the authorities. When Little Tom is ultimately abandoned, he learns he must find his own way by any means possible. He is not alone, however, as he is guided by a mysterious magpie and haunted by the distant growl of the golden-eyed Beast.

For years he drifts. Changing names and companions wherever he goes, finding little more than deception and depraved violence. As an adult, he realises the only way to survive is to commit the same theft, betrayal and murder he has witnessed all his life. One brutal crime follows another, until he is revered and feared as one of the most dangerous bushrangers in the land, but he begins to wonder how far a person can go until they are beyond redemption.