THE JADE MASK (TRACK 25) 28s

Tao’s pet bird Kukapetl leads Tao to a statue of a winged serpent, with Hiva-like inscriptions on it. It tells that the statue represents an ancient god. Tao goes off exploring. Kukapetl leads the others after him, down a stairway leading to an underground chamber with another winged serpent statue. A secret passage behind this statue leads to another room where Tao is examining hieroglyphics on the wall.

He interprets them thus: "A long time ago in the land of the Mayas, there lived a man who was very intelligent, and he understood the heaven and the earth. He was called the winged serpent". This man built a gigantic furnace. "Everything can be found in the city of gold".

The next morning, looking carefully at the jade mask, Tao finds tiny symbols on its eyes. When they press the wall tiles matching the symbols, the stone beams retract back into the walls, and another hole opens in the floor, leading to a brightly lit room containing a stone sarcophagus.

DR FERNANDO AND MARICHE (TRACK 26) 1M

The children open it, finding a statue and half a manuscript. When they emerge, they discover that the three strangers have captured Mendoza, Pedro and Sancho. The strangers are: Doctor Fernando la Guerra, a friend of the conquistador Cortez; Marinche, a native woman of evil intent; and the muscle-bound native Teteola. They too are searching for the Cities of Gold.

ESTEBAN’S THEME (TRACK 4) 2m 34s

After freeing Mendoza, Pedro and Sancho, the children find a lake which Tao suggests could be gold. Esteban dives in and finds golden sand. The children are captured again by a group of Indians, but escape when the village is flooded and they are carried away. They find a raft on which to further their escape.

The party trek eastward through the mountains, tired and hungry. They stop and rest, and Tao rereads the now-complete manuscript.

It reads: "The winged serpent, covered with a cloth of gold, crossing mountains and praries, reaches the swamp of the rain god, to build a new capital".

They chase an iguana, catch and eat it. Meanwhile, the Doctor, Marinche and Teteola are following their trail, and take a different route to get ahead of them. They are attacked by a giant eagle, forcing them to fall from the mountain path and get trapped on a ledge. The party, following the same path, are attacked by the bird. Spears are of little help, but the Doctor shoots the bird from the ledge below. In return he asks for his rescue, but Mendoza refuses, so he asks again with his gun pointed at Mendoza's head. Esteban throws down a rope and they climb up, Mendoza taking the Doctor's gun for safekeeping.

They reach the prarie.

DR FERNANDO AND MARICHE (TRACK 26) 1M

The Doctor and his associates are exhausted and choose to stop and rest while the party go on ahead - Marinche knows that the prarie is actually a swamp, but the party don't...though they find out soon enough. They find themselves surrounded by alligators, but escape by crossing the water on giant lily leaves. They reach firm ground, and as a storm brews overhead, find a statue of the rain god.

They head east from the swamp towards what the manuscript calls "the two tunnels". While walking through a forest they hear a strange moaning sound which turns out to be a fierce wind roaring through a narrow mountain pass.

They make their way through against the wind, narrowly avoiding an avalanche of rocks which blocks the exit. They find a small tunnel which leads to the far side of the mountains, overlooking another ruined city. Here they find another winged serpent statue.

A rock falls from a nearby building, nearly crushing Mendoza. While the others run to find whoever pushed it, the Doctor and Marinche capture Zia. Mendoza is forced to hand over his pistol to the Doctor. While the sailors are guarded by Teteola, the Doctor takes the children to a temple guarded by a jaguar statue.

ESTEBAN’S ADVENTURE (TRACK 8) 2m 7s)

Tao is forced to read the hieroglyphs below the statue, which read: "When he calls out, face the sun and the doors of night will open". They decide that the temple doors will open when sunlight is reflected onto the statue. Esteban does so with his medallion, and the statue slides aside, revealing a descending stairway which they follow. When Teteola tires in the heat, Mendoza overpowers him, and Sancho & Pedro tie him up.

Back in the temple, the children, the Doctor and Marinche find another manuscript. When the Doctor picks it up, the floor descends, trapping him in a hole. Kukapetl grabs the manuscript and Tao pushes Marinche into the hole. The party regroup. Tao examines the second manuscript, which reveals that once they retrieve the third manuscript from near a forest of terracotta statues, all will be revealed.

END THEME TRACK 36 1M 50

In our next episode of Mysterious Cities of Gold, the children head north in search of the forest of statues. Join us as our story continues…