Billabong Riders
In Billabong Riders, word reaches ‘Billabong’ that the head drover of their cattle coming from Queensland has been injured. Not trusting the second in command, Jim & Wally decide to take over. Norah and Tommy, well used to the saddle and mustering, insist on going to help and Murty O’Toole and Lee Wing are also enlisted.
As women are not usual amongst droving outfits, they keep a separate camp but Tommy and Norah are soon welcomed as friends by the majority and they befriend a lovely youngster named Rob.
Underground echoes from the hollow hills spook a half-crazed bull called Cranky, which charges the cattle into a stampede. An intense electrical storm wreaks further havoc on the mob and a number go missing. Search parties fail to find them until Jacky, an aboriginal friend, tells Rob that two of their own drovers have hidden the cattle intent on stealing them. He leads them to the spot and Jim and Wally go in, guns ready, to reclaim their stock. The outlaws flee on foot, but the party rounds up the cattle, using all their horses and bridles, and head back to camp, glad to be rid of the thieves.
The Trustee of The Mary Grant Bruce Family Trust owns the extant copyrights to this story.
First Published in: 1942
First Publisher: Ward, Lock & Co. Limited
Places First Published: London and Melbourne