A Papua New Guinean boy helps a young soldier as his village is torn apart by World War II. Twelve-year-old Kari grew up along the banks of the Kusumi River, east of the village of Kokoda. His father taught him the traditional ways of his people, and Sister Mary taught him English at the mission schoolhouse. One day Kari s peaceful world is shattered when a bomb rips through the village of Kokoda. Kari searches among the wounded and finds a young soldier lying in a ditch. The soldier is badly hurt, but Kari will not leave him. Together they make the perilous journey to safety along the Kokoda Track.