The sea rat had grown tired of waiting for his crewbeasts to bring him back the plunder he had sent them for. Muttering to himself about useless vermin, he settled down in his luxurious bed for a nap and quickly fell asleep. As the sea rat captain slept, he had several dreams, many of which he had dreamed before. They were, as usual, dreams about the places he had raided and the creatures he had killed or enslaved. Sometimes he dreamed of the threats the helpless creatures had made, but he was not afraid of any of them. To him they were merely stupid fools. Obviously they could do him no harm once the creature was dead. However, there was one dream that did disturb the sea rat. It was a dream he had several times before, a dream of a young creature who had been enslaved along with his family, before escaping and costing the sea rat nearly all of his power and might. He had this dream almost every time he went to sleep, and when he woke up, he would always convince himself that there was no need to worry. He assured himself that the creature would have probably died long ago, and even if he lived was no threat. Even so, whenever that face crossed his dreams, he was worked into such a rage that all aboard the ship could hear him. They all shuddered as they heard him ripping his pillows ferociously and yelling death threats.

One stoat shivered and turned to his crewmate, a fox. "Hoi there, mate, I certainly wouldn't want to be the beast ol' Oloe's screamin' about. If the cap'n gets that worked up over him in his sleep, I'd hate to see what he'd do to him when he's awake."

The fox shook his head with an expression of mild fear. "Aye, just listen to him goin' on about the beast." The crewmates paused and listened to the haunting cries. The captain was yelling in a high-pitched, hysterical voice, but all could make out the words.

"I'm going to get you, mouse!" "I'll make you wish you'd never been born!" "You'll regret the day you crossed me, woodlander!" "No one escapes Captain Oloe!" The sea rat captain cried these and other threats. Not long before he woke up, he emitted one last threat before waking. This threat was of a lower pitch, close to a growl. "We will meet again, and on that day there will be death. I promise this to you, the one who calls himself Gonff, Prince of Mousthieves."

Redwall was bustling with activity as it neared time for dinner. Squirrels, mice, hedgehogs, and a few moles scampered around in the kitchen and out of it as they brought heaping trays of food to the massive table in the Great Hall. Dibbuns were greatly entertained as they joyfully leapt into the paths of busy creatures, usually sending someone sprawling.

Suddenly the great door burst open. Several scores of otters paraded into the Great Hall, affectionately picking up Dibbuns along the way. Carried on the shoulders of one otter was a jolly-looking mouse, tootling away on a small flute, occasionally stopping to yell out to a friend. Suddenly the mouse went catapulting away off the otter's shoulders. The mouse sailed through the air. Abbess Germaine shook her head disapprovingly at the otter, who was trying his best to look innocent, but not succeeding.

"Skipper, I'm surprised at you. That was a very immature thing to do." She scolded as the mouse came back to the group. With a twinkle in her eye, she added, "Why, you're becoming more and more like Gonff himself every day!"

The mouse made a bizarre noise of indignation as everyone laughed. Then, with a light in his own eye, he chimed in. "Really, mateys, how could anyone come close to being like me?"

A shout rang out from near the kitchens. "All right, which of you Dibbuns snatched those two big damson puddings?"

The Abbess turned back to the otters and cried out. "Skipper!"

"What?" the otter cried out, then looked down to see a pudding placed in his hand. "Gonff, you little rascal!"

The mouse had taken the diversion as an opportunity to wolf down the latter of the two puddings, then turned around with an expression of innocence that any vermin would have trouble scolding. "What did I do? Skipper's the one who's turning into me!"

They all laughed heartily, and Skipper reached out a paw to pat his friend with."You're right, Gonff, no one could be more of a nuisance than you!"

Gonff turned and caught the pudding that had been headed towards his back, scooped it up and devoured it. He winked. "Thanks, matey!"

With another laugh, the Abbey dwellers went to sit down for supper. Gonff found his friend Martin and sat next to him, an expression of concern on his normally jovial face. Martin elbowed him. "What's the matter, Gonff?"

Gonff answered in a question. "Where's my Columbine, and little Gonflet?"

Martin could see he was trying not to make a big deal out of it, but he also saw his friend's concern for his family. "They were out picking berries with the others when I last saw them. Don't worry, they're probably around here somewhere. I'll ask around."

But although Martin made it a point to casually ask nearly everyone in the Abbey, no one knew where they were. Finally a young hogmaid spoke up.

"They were out picking berries like everyone else. I was working near Columbine when little Gonflet hurried up to her because he wanted to go pick berries on the other side of the river, probably because it was cooler there. They went over the bridge, but that's the last I saw them."

Abbess Germaine, sensing Gonff's concern, made a quick decision. "They're probably around here somewhere. Foremole, will you, Martin, Gonff and Bella take a quick search outside with a few lanterns? Some of us will search the Abbey for them, and we'll ring the bells if we find them. Don't take long, though. If you don't find them in an hour, come back inside and finish your dinner, and we'll organize a bigger search in the morning."

When everyone approved of the Abbess's plan, she recruited a search party to search inside. As Gonff, Bella, Foremole and Martin headed outside armed with lanterns, she pulled Martin aside for a quick word. "Martin, promise me that if you don't find them, you will bring Gonff and the others back inside after the hour is passed. If I know our Gonff, he'll want to keep searching till he finds them. Promise me that you will bring them back, especially Gonff. He's the one I'm worried about."

Martin faced the Abbess. "I swear on my oath as a Warrior that I will not let Gonff do anything stupid."

The Abbess smiled. "I don't know if anyone can do that."

Columbine and Gonflet were dragged roughly through the trees along the bank for a distance before coming to a large red ship with black sails. Upon nearing it, Snaptooth the stoat called out, "Ahoy there, mateys, it's us, and we got prisoners!"

A small raft was lowered over the side of the ship. Snaptooth and Droopear forced the two mice onto the raft with them.

"Hoist us up!" Droopear cried. They were hauled up, and then the two captives were seized by a large ferret.

"These are the prisoners?" He asked, curling his lip in contempt. "You two dundleheads couldn't manage to find much, could you?"

"Oh, I don't know," Droopear replied slyly. "The cap'n might think differently. "You know what the young mouse's name is? It's Gonflet. We're thinkin' it might be short for something."

Snaptooth cut in. "Aye, short for somethin, maybe for Gonff, for example."

The ferret caught their drift immediately, and excitement replaced contempt. He whistled. "You mean to say that this little mousie is the son of old Gonff? Why, that would make you—" He looked closely at Columbine. "His wife!"

All three burst out in raw, evil laughter.

"Yup, the cap'n will be real happy to see you two. Real happy." Droopear giggled with excitement as he gazed at Gonflet and Columbine. "Come on, you two, time to meet the cap'n."

Columbine grasped her son tightly as the vermin forced them along the deck to a door. They passed through it and went up a dark staircase to another door. The ferret knocked.

"Who is it?" came the gruff answer.

"It's me, Floptail, your first mate, sir," the ferret replied. There was a pause, and then, "Come in."
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