"I nearly had her." The voice was very low and deep and croaky, and somehow it sounded as if it had never been used before. "I nearly had her. Until you jumped in. What did you want to do that for?"

Washy looked around. There was no-one else near-by. From an unsafe distance on the bank, the girl was watching them intently.

"That's right," croaked the crocodile, "I'm talking to you...Sunshine."

"How?" asked Washy. "I'm holding your jaws closed."

"I don't need jaws to speak," the crocodile sniffed, "We crocodiles have been around for a long time. I'm speaking in your mind."

He didn't know that crocodiles could speak. Let alone in his mind.