‘Eldorado’ – 2016the 10th pirate episode from ‘Bayko Baron’

• The Franciscan mission at San Ignatio on the Caya Rio. Into this idyll crashes the Regimento Irlanda

• And with them Don Lardo. Having heard rumour of his replacement over the recent Castelbranca fiasco the Governor is determined to take one last throw at making his fortune. Like others before him he has heard the tales of ‘Eldorado’ the Golden Man. Unlike others,

he held the tale-teller and tortured them for exact directions.

• The mission indians are pressed as porters, their animals taken for transport

• The expedition sets out down a long-forgotten trail

• The troops struggle forward…

• While Don Lardo supervises the porters

• But their entry into the forest is not unobserved, Yaruro tribesmen are already shadowing their progress

• Nor are they alone, Calico jack Chinless, The Baracudda and RobRoy McNuggets are even now approaching San Ignatio

• After a week hacking forward a Toltec signpost signals they are still on the right trail

• And suddenly the undergrowth thins and there is the temple of Tezcatlipoca

Something gleams in the darkness as Don Lardo leads the way inside

• Don Lardo filches the statue in short order, but even as it reaches the bottom of the steps a scream of anguish rises as the Yaruro finally strike

Abandoning wounded, porters and supplies as unwanted luggage Don Lardo heads for home

• While back at the temple the Yaruro tend to the fallen while their priest summons the faithful

The musicians

strike up a jaunty tune in the hope of scaring

off the shadows in the forest

• While every few miles the whispering arrows of an invisible enemy claim another victim

• Back at San Ignatio the garrison hold the pirates at the quayside

• Until RobRoy arrives on their flank

• With the result that the exhausted Don Lardo is confronted by ramparts rather than refuge

• The desperate troops launch an assault, but are blasted by the pirate cannon

• Leaving the Yaruro to dispose of the survivors

• Emerging to claim their victory the pirates are confronted by a Yaruro priest

• A week on , The Baracudda and Calico Jack take advantage of a friendly priest to re-take their marital vows

• While back at the temple of Tezcatlipoca, Don Lardo is also closely involved in an act of re-dedication