On the goldfields of 19th century Australia, two very different girls are trying to escape their past. English governess Violet Hartley has fled from England after a scandalous liaison. Now she is angling for a rich husband and a new life. Little Cat is fleeing from her home in Southern China after killing the powerful old man who tried to rape her. Disguised as a boy, she joins the huge Chinese workforce on the goldfields of South Australia. But the son of the murdered man is on her trail, intent on vengeance and Violet Hartley becomes first suspicious, then jealous of the delicate looking Chinese boy.