A very credible rumour links the pest to a big city corporation, hired to scare residents off land targeted for redevelopment. As the blaze closes on Whisky Flat township, nine-year-old Donny O'Brien goes missing, purportedly abducted by the developer to make his parents part with a key parcel of land. But Donny’s dog and his next-door neighbour, Miss Ethel Madden, also vanish, upsetting the popular theory and, as the fire spreads, becoming the focus of problems nobody has imagined.