It seems Patsy had met Spotty in town, he was doing something inside the bonnet of his car, he ask her if she had nothing to do could she find us and say that he would be a bit late.

I explained to Patsy that in other words he would not be coming.

Patsy looked puzzled repeating that he only said he would be late, he had just got to fix something in the engine.

Spottys car however does not allow just late, it is not so much a means of transport, as a mobile AA training centre. He only keeps it because he thinks it gives him a dashing man about town image. Which it might have done if he wasn't always covered in oil and grease.

A shower of peanuts came skidding across the table indicating that someone else had fallen for the gibbons little game. Some distance away a camel was looking at me thorough one eye. I decided to look back at it though one eye but when I closed an eye the other one went all blurred. I wonder if camels ever need glasses.

For some reason the chat got around to boating and Joe decided to show Patsy how good he was at rowing. So we all took a boat out on the lake.

Its amazing how difficult it is to row a boat with one oar. It is also strange how the oar you dropped in the water always stays three feet away from the boat no matter how small the circles you try to row with the remaining oar. If someone had not come along to pick it up we would probably be still going round in circles.

Patsy and I were in the back of the boat. Joe was facing us and was beginning to make a reasonable show of rowing as we reached the middle of the lake. Joes eyes suddenly fixed in strange stare.

" What's up." I ask.

" There's a crocodile." said Joe looking past us into the empty stretch of water behind the boat.

" What are you talking about." I said.

" There's a crocodile in the water behind us." said Joe.

" Rubbish." I said.

" I'm not joking." said Joe pulling with a new sense of urgency on the oars.

" Don't be daft." I said turning round to look in the direction Joe was staring. " This is a boating lake not the Zambezi."

Patsy turned to look half laughing at Joes obvious little joke. "Eeeeeek." she screamed almost falling out and making the boat rock alarmingly. I grabbed her arm and steadied her, she grabbed me around the waist and hung on. All we could see was a 'V' shaped ripple moving across the surface of the calm water behind us.

" Its probably only a rat." I said.

If it had not broken the surface I might have believed that myself. However not many rats have huge noses and eyes twelve inches apart.