Isle of Pirates

After a long voyage a ship was coming back to the harbour in the town of Kołobrzeg. All the sailors were happy that they would soon reach their home land when suddenly their ship was surrounded by a swarm of small pirate boats

The pirates took a few seconds to take over the ship and attact the sailors, most of whom got killed. Janek was a steersman on this ship. He was approached by the boss of the pirates – a slim, shortish man. He told his people to tie Janek up and take him to one of the boats. The pirates were very surprised that the boss had let Janek live, as such a thing had not happened before.

Having plundered the ship, the pirates sank it and sailed on. They sailed into a river that was going deep into the land. The river connected the sea to a beautiful lake, in the middle of which there was an island.

The pirate boats sailed to the island and moored on its shore. The pirates started carrying all the stolen goods into a cave hidden among rocks and bushes. The boss went with them.

After a while he came back with two huge dogs. He had Janek untied and asked the boy to follow him.

They entered the cave. It was high, filled with crates full of treasures and fancy carpets. Under the ceiling there was a small hole through which one could see some dim light. In the middle of the cave there was a big furnace. The dogs lay down near the entrance and were watching the newcomer very carefully.

After a while the boss of the pirates took off a black mask from his face and – to Janek’s amazement – he saw a beautiful young woman. Her name was Stenka and she wanted Janek to join her band. Janek got a bedding and food. He could do whatever he wanted, as long as he didn’t try to leave the cave. The dogs were left at the entrance and growled frighteningly whenever Janek approached them. Stenka told Janek why she had become the boss of the pirates, why she robbed, stole, plundered and murdered: When she was a small child, she lived with her parents in a village, whose all inhabitants were very poor and whose owner was a rich, but evil man. He forced people to work very hard and beat them. One night Stenka set fire on his house and he died before help arrived. The girl had to escape and joined the pirates. And – because she was strong, brave and cruel – she soon became their leader.

After a few days Stenka said that she was going away for a few days and nights. She left Janek some food and told the dogs to keep an eye on him.

Janek waited for a while and soon started looking for an opportunity to escape. He found a thick rope under the pile of fancy carpets. He tied one end of it to a big three-sided candle holder and started throwing it towards the hole near the ceiling. Some attempts were failed, but eventually, he succeeded. The candle holder got stuck onto a rock behind the hole. Janek gave the dogs a lot of smoked meat to keep them busy eating. He started climbing the rope quickly when suddenly one dog noticed what was going on and ran towards him. Luckily, Janek was already so high that the dogs could not reach him, although they pulled the rope with all their might. Janek was scared but the rope did not break.

He reached the hole, crept through it and started running away.

He was running along a narrow path towards the lake.

He jumped into it and threw in the rope, which sank immediately.

Meanwhile, Stenka has returned from her expedition. Satisfied and happy, she was walking towards her hideout. She came in and saw only two dogs, crawling unhappily towards her feet. Janek was gone. Stenka got furious, she started to beat the dogs and scream at her people. She discovered Janek’s route. She knew that he would soon send soldiers to the cave. She told her band to throw rocks and sand over the entrance to the cave to hide it from the soldiers’ eyes.

When this was done, they all took their boats and sailed towards the sea, but there was already a trap waiting for them – tree planks, boards and trunks cast across the river to prevent any boat from sailing on. The pirates had to turn back to the place where they kept their horses. There they got out of the boats.

They all mounted their horses and rushed towards the forest, but the path was very narrow and those who did not know it well fell down a steep cliff. This way many pirates died and others were shot by the soldiers.

Janek asked the soldiers not to shoot the man in a black mask. Stenka recognized his voice. She turned her horse towards the lake, but it got stuck in the marshes. She jumped off the horse and tried to escape, but was sucked in and drowned.

This is how Stenka’s band found its end. Soon the river connecting the lake to the sea was dried and filled with sand. Only the cave and treasures hidden inside were never found and in fact haven’t been found until today.