The Price of an Orphan — Patricia Carlon

Johnnie is a nine-year-old city orphan recently placed with a couple on a cattle ranch in the Australian outback. But he is not quite the foster child they had in mind. He is "cheeky and lazy, cowardly and stubborn." When he claims to have witnessed a murder, they remind him of the boy who cried wolf. Finally, he admits he was lying. As he is about to be sent back to the orphanage, they are invited on a camping trip. A special treat and one last chance for Johnnie, or a cunning trap?