They didn't mind when the rope "accidentally" pulled me off my feet, made more difficult by my hands being useless. It was late afternoon when we got to the clearing; a musket shot drove off the dingoes. One of the soldiers threw up when he saw the body, but it helped my story if they couldn't tell how his throat got torn out. "I know this guy," another man said. "He escaped five weeks ago."

"This is the runner," the Sergeant asked.

"Yes. Look in his pockets. He carried the girls' necklaces as proof for the ransom." The soldier pulled out the two lockets and handed them over. "The girls...