The Night on the Darling River1894, Echuca, Victoria Tess Hawthorn is a woman on the run from her abusive husband. All she has to do is get on the riverboat Victor and she will be free. But with tensions at an all time high between unionist shearers and Scabs, Tess isn't the only person trying to board a boat under the cover of night. When a brawl erupts between the union and non union men, Tess is mistaken for a fellow Scab and in the chaos pulled aboard the PS Rodney the same