The story is narrated by ten-year old Staszek, who writes in his diary about his school-friend Jozef. Jozef comes from a family of blacksmiths, all of whom bear the name Jozef. Since he is the sixth consecutive son to be called Jozef, he is nicknamed Szustek (meaning "sixth one").
Four dolls, living for the day in kindergarten, were brought in by the bodyguards left behind. While escaping from their kidnappers, they get lost in the forest
