Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 The scent of Dylan on the wind was irresistible. Charlie the crocodile charged down the path, past his gobsmacked friends, following the smell. Whenever a member of the public strayed into his path, they turned tail and fled, usually screaming. Which is entirely understandable and exactly what you should do if you are unfortunate enough to come across a crocodile, or an alligator for that matter. Charlie wasn't bothered though. He had one target on his mind. There was Dylan, now so busy taunting some monkeys that he didn't notice the screams of terror from the people around him… Or the six-metre crocodile sneaking up behind him. It was only when the monkeys started whooping that Dylan began to suspect that there was something unusual going on.

'Are those monkeys… laughing?' Dylan asked the woman standing next to him, frozen in terror as she stared at the crocodile. 'Look at them. They're finding something funny. That one's rolling on the floor!' The woman made a terrified little honking noise. 'Hang about… now they're pointing,' said Dylan. 'What's that about?' Slowly, Dylan turned round. And there behind him, jaws slavering and teeth glistening, ready to pounce, was Charlie the crocodile. Dylan let out a small mew of terror. And then ran. Charlie gave chase. When he had started the hunt, Charlie's plan had just been to terrify Dylan, but now all the anger he felt for the misery Dylan had caused him and his friends came together as one thought: bite him. Chomp him. Crunch his bones and tear his flesh. Despite Dylan's head start, Charlie was gaining on him. He snapped his jaws – but caught only thin air. He realized what he was doing was wrong and knew deep down he shouldn't eat Dylan, but the instinct was impossible to resist. Dylan deserved it. SNAP! Again, Charlie's great jaws slammed shut, and this time he caught the back of Dylan's hastily-stapled trousers, and ripped them open again. Dylan kept running in sheer panic, trying to hold up what was

left of his trousers and underpants AND hide his bum at the same time. That was impossible though and, as Dylan ran, his trousers dropped completely down, got tangled up in his feet and he fell forward onto his face, displaying his bare bum to the world. But worse than that, the crocodile was upon him. Charlie gave a hiss of victory, and shook his head to get rid of the shredded Incredible Hulk underpants which hung off his front teeth. He crawled forward and placed a heavy claw on Dylan's back, rolling him over like a rag doll. No, Charlie thought. I can't do this! Yes, you can, the crocodile part of him thought. The world is a cruel place and people just need to realize that. Dylan whimpered with dread as the crocodile crawled forward until its head was level with his. It eyed him, and the cold black slit in the green orb narrowed as it got closer and closer. Dylan felt hot, foul breath on his face as the crocodile opened its vast jaws. He closed his eyes and waited for the bite that would end his young life.

'Stop!' Charlie turned his great head to see who had interrupted his dinner. It was Mr Wind, and he was charging towards Charlie, brandishing a broom high above his head like a sword, with Miss Fyre in quick pursuit. 'Stop!' cried Mr Wind again. 'Get away from that bare-bummed boy!' Charlie snapped out of his trance and realized what he was about to do. He had been about to eat Dylan! Mr Wind reached Charlie and started hitting him with the broom. Charlie tried hissing a warning but Mr Wind, emboldened by Miss Fyre's shouts of encouragement, kept whacking him again and again. Charlie began backing away, and Dylan took his chance, scrabbling off on all fours and not caring who could see his bum. At the same moment, something landed round Charlie's neck. It was some sort of lasso attached to a

stick, held by a beefy-looking zookeeper with a huge moustache. The more Charlie tried to free himself, the tighter the lasso became. 'Come on, you!' the zookeeper said, tugging Charlie forward. 'Let's get you back where you belong! Lord alone knows how you escaped.' Charlie was stuck. He had no choice but to be led along the path like a dog on a leash. They soon reached a small door in a wall, like a giant cat flap, which the zookeeper opened. 'Back in there with you!' The zookeeper manoeuvred Charlie skilfully through the flap and into a tunnel. When he was in, the leash round his neck was released and the flap snapped shut behind him. Charlie couldn't help laughing – the memory of Dylan running away in terror, with his pants hanging off him and his bum poking out, was just too funny. And as the laughter rippled through Charlie, he began to change. His tail was already disappearing, his skin becoming smoother, his body shrinking. A moment later, Charlie the crocodile was no more. He was back to plain old Charlie. Still chortling to himself, he looked at his new predicament. He was stuck in the short tunnel, and the flap behind him had been locked by the zookeeper. He had to keep on going forward. In front of him was another flap and Charlie stopped chortling as he began to get a sneaking feeling he knew what lay on the other side.

But Charlie had no choice. He pushed his way through and crawled out into a large grassy slope dotted with trees. At the bottom of the slope was a huge pond, fringed by tall reeds. And surrounding the pond, staring at Charlie, were half a dozen huge and very menacing reptiles. Charlie was in the crocodile enclosure. They turned as one and stared at the newcomer who had suddenly appeared in their territory. Then three of the crocodiles started lumbering towards him. Charlie had never, ever been so terrified in his life. The crocodiles lashed their tails eagerly. They knew exactly what to do with a small boy trapped in their enclosure. And it wasn't play table tennis with him. It was dinner time and their jaws were drooling at the sudden meal that had presented itself to them. Charlie knew he was finished if he did nothing and just waited for help – he had to get out. He saw only one hope, one sliver of a chance. Without a second's thought, he started running towards the crocodiles. The beasts' jaws were wide open in shock at the sight of their dinner hurtling towards them. Charlie ran as fast as he could and, at the last moment, he jumped over the snapping teeth on to the nearest crocodile's head. He bounced off, straight on to another croc's head. He trampolined off that one too, hop-scotching straight on to a third.