Jolanda, May Britt, collected at the age of two by a troupe of gypsies, grows up among them with the man who accompanies her and later teaches her the art of combat, giving her the appearance and bearing of a young man. Her life is a blend of bold skill and stubborn independence, shaped by a harsh world where loyalty is tested and danger lurks behind every horizon.
Near Maracaibo, the pair step in to shield the escort of Consuelo di Medina, Barbara Florian the daughter of the Count of Medina, who is ambushed by brigands. The moment is a turning point: the guardian, gravely wounded, reveals Jolanda’s true origins and the weight of a hidden past. He tells her that her real name is Jolanda, daughter of the Count of Ventimiglia, known as the legendary Black Corsair, who was treacherously murdered by Van Gould, Marc Lawrence Count of Medina. This revelation also hints at a family treasure, buried behind a wakeful legacy that demands justice.
To avenge her father’s death, Jolanda joins forces with the Black Corsair’s loyal followers—Van Stiller, Ignazio Balsamo, and Agonia, Alberto Sorrentino—and forges an alliance with the pirate Morgan, Guido Celano, who fights under the English banner as the war against Spain rages. In Tortuga, a precarious coalition forms as they prepare for a clash where truces may be fragile and loyalties are constantly tested by the shifting tides of war and ambition.
As the armistice approaches, the treacherous Van Gould, Marc Lawrence, uses a cunning ruse to win the English envoy’s approval for arresting and trialing the pirates gathered in Maracaibo, including Morgan’s son, Ralf, Renato Salvatori, who has become Jolanda’s lover. Jolanda refuses to surrender, and she evades capture, slipping deeper into a web where love, vengeance, and loyalty pull in different directions. She infiltrates the Medina palace, where Consuelo’s affections are misread by the supposed masculine guise Jolanda wears, and she seizes the little countess as a bargaining chip to secure Ralf’s release.
But a fresh trap awaits on the exchange site. Van Gould’s gambit reches a fever pitch, and Jolanda is captured and tortured; she does not reveal the treasure’s location, standing firm in her resolve. Meanwhile, Ralf and his companions endure a brutal siege by the Spanish armigers within the female convent of Santa Esperancia, a place that doubles as a hospital for lepers and a symbol of hardship in a brutal era.
A daring sortie brings Van Stiller back into the fray, reuniting with Henry Morgan, who, due to his past achievements in the English crown, has managed to elude capture and now moves with a captain’s authority aboard his ship. Morgan’s intervention shifts the balance, and as the chase unfolds, the Count of Medina is cast adrift in a small boat filled with lepers. Jolanda’s family of loyal allies—together with the pirate Morgan—seize the opportunity to claim the treasured wealth that lies at the heart of a legacy born of courage and betrayal.
In the end, the treasure falls to Jolanda and her steadfast circle, their struggles culminating in a tense, hard-won victory. The tale blends swashbuckling action with a reckoning of lineage and love, painting a vivid panorama of Caribbean seas, pirate codes, and the pursuit of justice across a fractured world. A perilous quest for truth and treasure closes with Jolanda stepping into a future defined by resilience, loyalty, and the enduring pull of ancient debts repaid.
