It was nighttime when Raga Bol sighted Redwall Abbey, showing above the trees. He and his crew, and Badredd's gang, were approaching it from the east.

"A harr, there 'tis, mates, the Abbey place," Bol said.

"I told ye," said Flinky. "Now will you let us go?"

Raga Bol grinned. "Oh, no, we'll be keeping you with us a while yet. We might be able to use you to shield us from stray arrows." Flinky gulped.

There was a small door set in the center of the Abbey's rear wall. Raga Bol approached it. He held up a paw for silence. He tried to open the door but it was locked.

"Duh likkel door's locked, I t'ink," said Plumnose the ferret.

Raga Bol rounded on him, hissing viciously, "Is it now? Thanks for lettin' me know, boulder nose!"

"Tink nodding ob it." Like Horty Braebuck, Plumnose was also immune to sarcasm.

"Are any of ye any good at openin' locks?" Bol demanded of the vermin.

Badredd raised his paw. "I am." He held up the paper clip that he had been planning to try to use to break in earlier.

Flinky groaned inwardly.

Raga Bol waved Badredd to the door impatiently. "Well, get a move on, we haven't got all night!"

The little fox wedged one end of the paperclip in the keyhole. He wiggled it around in there for a few minutes. He muttered to himself, rocking his head back and forth on his shoulders.

After a while he straightened up. "Here's the problem! There's a bolt on the door!"

Raga Bol whipped out his sword and thrust it under Badredd's nose. "I KNOW THERE'S A BOLT, IDJIT! You don't know anything about openin' locks at all, do you? Get out of my way!"

He pushed the fox aside and thrust his hook into the keyhole. There was a click, and the door swung inward.

"Well, what do you know," he said. "This hook makes a perfect lockpick. I really ought to thank Joshy Stag Hare for cutting off my hand, because this hook is so much more useful."

"Of course it is," said Wirga. "It was made by me, after all."

Badredd was picking himself off the ground. "Huh, I bet it was my paper clip that really opened the door," he muttered.

"Keep yore mouth shut," Bol hissed. "That goes for all of ye. Foller me, don't go cloghoppin' all over the place. We're goin' to take a look around the Abbey grounds. Next move is t'get inside the big buildin'. Quietly now…"