A Prayer for Blue Delaney

Book excerpt: 'Don't worry,' said Bill. 'You can hide out here until you get your strength back. That is, if you don't mind an old man, a dog and a few ghosts for company.' Colm is on the run, determined to escape from the cruelties of Bindoon Boys' Home. He strikes up an unexpected friendship with old Billy Dare and his dog Rusty, and together they travel from the goldfields of Kalgoorlie to the rugged north. Whether they're working along the Dog Fence, eluding the police or confronting a wild boar, they're a team. When Bill's life is at risk, it's up to Colm to go in search of the mysterious Blue Delaney and lay to rest the ghosts that haunt them both. This action-packed story, set in the 1950s, continues the richly detailed historical quartet that began with Bridie's Fire and Becoming Billy Dare. Starting in the 1840s and ending in present-day Australia, the Children of the Wind quartet tells the stories of four courageous young people, Bridie, Billy, Colm and Maeve, born fifty years apart. The central character from each book becomes a mentor to the child in the next.