There, in front of her, was a sleigh, the brightest color of red with gold accents, a bright green velvet seat, and a harness that would fit Thunder attached to it.

"Wow." She replied, getting closer to the sleigh. The runners were perfect, not bent or deformed in any way. She hopped up into the sleigh, and settled down on the seat. It was warm despite the cold wind, and softer then Thunder's fur. It was a wide sleigh, and Mariana, having never seen one before, guessed that they all were wide.

"Can we have a ride?"

"That's why I made it." Mater gave her a grin, and Mariana looked at him in wonder. "Not everythin' I make is awful." He laughed, and Mariana shook her hood before going over to him and hugging him.

"Nothing that you make is awful." He patted her roof, then lifted her up into the seat. Thunder wiggled himself into the harness, but got one of his front paws stuck.

"Whoops."

"What do you mean, 'Whoops'?"

"Thunder done got one of his paws stuck." Mater replied sheepishly.

"Let me help." Mariana giggled, then fixed Thunder's paw. "There." She scrambled back up onto the seat, and once she was ready,

Thunder took off, out of the yard and down the street, Mater driving along behind them.

"Where did you get that sled, Mater?" Lightning asked as he flew by him. Mater just laughed, and Mariana hung on as Thunder trotted faster towards Tailfin Pass. The three of them veered off to the right, heading for the waterfall. They passed by it as they turned around. Mater wasn't taking any chances of Mariana getting hurt, and was glad that Thunder kept up a fast but safe pace.

They pulled back into town, and stopped at Flo's. The others all laughed.

"First a car, and now a sleigh? Thunder, you goofball." Flo laughed. He just barked and wagged his tail.

Jack, Harry, Sara, and Paul drove over to the sleigh, looking at it curiously. Mariana popped up from inside it, and the four knew it was safe. They climbed aboard, and Thunder took off down the street, Mater following, as the others laughed.

They passed by the pond, and the billboard, and as they rode, Sara confessed that she'd like to try to find Snot Rod. The others looked at her in shock, and she nodded firmly.

"But what if he doesn't accept you as his daughter?" Mariana asked.

"I'll bring Paul and Harry with me. If he thinks I'm a joke, then he can look at Harry. Sarge said that Harry looks just like him, and with that kind of clue he shouldn't be hard to find."

Mater opened his mouth to say something, then sighed quietly and closed it. So she had found out. He had guessed that it would've been soon, after what Mariana had told him of her and Thunder's escapade.

"But do you know where he is?"

"Sure. Every minute of every day of every week." Sara smiled and held out an electronic GPS. "Doc gave it to me, after he learned that I wanted to find Snot Rod."

Mater listened to the conversation in silence, even though he was thinking hard about what Sara was saying. He figured that Sara was determined not to let Snot Rod be her father figure, since she had called him nothing but Snot Rod, and that meant that she wasn't going to be staying with him, and that she would bring Harry and Paul back. He smiled to himself. She had determination, he could see it. He secretly wanted her to succeed in finding Snot Rod, that way she would know where she really belonged; with the town, or with a father that doesn't know that he has three children, off doing who knows what in who knows where. Thunder turned around in the road, then began heading back towards the town, and the others seemed not to notice how quiet Mater was being during the remainder of the ride.

When Thunder pulled up in front of Flo's, the others laughed and he barked happily, wagging his tail. The five climbed down from the seat, thanking Mater, and petting Thunder before slipping and sliding over to Flo's, giggling every time one of them fell to the ice.

"This is fun! Whee!" Sara exclaimed before she slid halfway down the road, which was covered in a thick film of ice. She spun around in circles lazily, giggling as she bumped into the wall of a building. "Sarge, come here!" She exclaimed suddenly.

He sighed, then drove over to her carefully. "What's the matter?"

"Will you play on the ice with me?"

Sarge slipped and almost fell, but caught himself. "No, you can play with your brothers."

"But you're already on the ice, pleeeease?" She gave him a pleading look, and he sighed in defeat.

"All right."

"Yay!" And she took off, sliding as fast as she could.

Sarge slid after her, shouting, "Don't do that, you'll-Oof!" He had been so busy yelling at Sara to be careful that he hadn't seen the pile of snow directly in his path. He flew into it, sending up little clouds of snow. It was a deep snow pile, one big enough for Sarge to not be seen.

"Sarge?" Sara asked cautiously, sliding up to the snow pile.

He poked his hood out, his windshield still not able to be seen, and replied, "Yes, Sara?"

"You need to be careful, the ice is slippery." She told him seriously, then broke out laughing, along with the others.

Sarge dug his way out of the snow pile, then shook it from his body. "You little rascal!" He yelled, then began sliding back and forth, trying to chase her playfully. His tires couldn't grip the road as well as hers, so he was fishtailing all over the road as he tried.

The other four children slid after Sarge, giggling and squealing. They jumped onto him all at once, screaming, "Carpile on Sarge!"

The weight of the four sent him to the ice, and he spun around in circles, his tires splayed out in different directions. Sara jumped onto his hood as he spun, giggling wildly. The others all laughed as Sarge went hoodfirst into another snowbank, making the kids laugh. "Sarge, you're not supposed to eat the snow! You're supposed to play in it!" Sara exclaimed, giggling.

"Why me?" He asked, and his voice was muffled by the snow.

"Because, you're fun to play with." Sara replied, and she had stopped giggling.

Sarge looked at her fondly, and even though she couldn't see him smiling, his expression told her he was. Thunder got out of the harness, then jumped onto the ice. He ran in place, his paws comically windmilling as he tried to stand on the ice. He finally stopped abruptly, his legs splayed out as he braced himself against the ice. Gradually, he slid down to lay on the ice, his paws splayed out in four separate directions. He uttered a whimper, then sighed.

The five children slid over to him, and helped him stand up again.

The best they could do was get him into a sitting position, then Sara sighed and gave him a push. He slid fairly easily, and the five giggled. He barked as he almost flew into a snowpile, and somehow sent himself spinning in fast, tight circles. One after another, the kids slid after him, trying to stop him from getting hurt. He slid straight into Lightning's cone, then got up dizzily, falling back down to the ice again.

"Thunder, are you okay?" Came five worried voices.

Thunder stood up dizzily, then wobbled along on the ice, slipping and falling every few seconds. The others all laughed, then Thunder collided with Sarge, tripping over his front wheel well and landing on his hood.

"Hey!" Sarge exclaimed in surprise. He had been trying to get up, and Thunder had startled him into slipping and falling back to the ice. Thunder looked up at him dizzily, his head bobbing as his eyes crossed. The others laughed even louder as Thunder tried to kick his back paws in an attempt to push himself upright, since his front paws were pinned beneath him when he fell. He finally succeeded, and stood there for a minute before promptly slipping, flying head over paws, then ending up on his stomach again.

"I think he's had about enough, you five." Doc chuckled as the group of children slid over to Thunder's side and were helping him up.

"Awww, please, Doc?" Came five begging voices, paired with five sets of pleading eyes.

"No, I'm sorry. He doesn't look like he wants to play anymore."

Paul and Harry looked down at Thunder, who looked up at them pleadingly, almost as if he were saying, "No, I'm done for the day, please, let me go back inside?"

"Okay, Thunder." The group hoisted him up, then pushed him over to Lightning's cone. He wagged his tail gratefully, then went inside, stiff from the cold. He laid down next to the heater, and moaned softly as the warmth flowed over him. He heard the garage door open, then shut a minute later, and Harry, Paul, Mariana, Jack, and Sara entered the room. They laid down by him, and soon, the whole group was reclining by the heater, sighing contentedly.

Soon, Paul and Harry were arguing about who was getting more of the heat. Thunder raised his head up, trying to get them to stop, when the heater shut off. They all just looked at it for a minute, then burst out laughing.

"Ready to go over to Flo's, since we missed lunch?" Mariana asked Thunder, who wagged his tail and got up stiffly, stretching and moaning. The others copied him, then he barked, trotting down the hallway to his room. He led the group into his room, and then began dishing out scarves for each.

"Thanks, Thunder!" Came four prompt replies, and Thunder wagged his tail. He watched as each put on their scarves, then donned his own with Mariana's help, which was a teal-blue color, and led the way outside.

Mariana gave Flo the scarf back, neatly folded, and Flo smiled before asking, "Where's your earmuffs, silly?"

"Oh, right!" Mariana pulled them out of the storage space beneath her hood, then put them on. She giggled, then the group had hot chocolate before going to look for more snow at the Butte.

"Snow!" Paul exclaimed, before jumping hoodfirst into a large pile of the stuff. He popped back up, shook himself off like a dog, then giggled.

Harry was next to jump into the pile, and he took a running start before leaping into the snow. "That was fun! Come on, Sara, it's your turn!"

"Here I come!" She giggled, then used Thunder as a springboard after she asked him if it was all right. Thunder snatched up Mariana, then tossed her into the pile, laughing. Jack raced towards the snow, and jumped into it, doing a flip before landing on her wheels in it. Thunder barked, then jumped in, landing flat on his stomach.

The five giggled, then began spreading out to build forts and have a snowball fight. Mariana paired with Thunder, since he couldn't make his fort very well. She built a snow fort that would protect the two of them from any snowballs, then Thunder began rolling the snow into snowballs that would be easy for Mariana to throw.

Mariana grabbed one, then took aim at Jack's fort. Her gaze shifted at the last minute to Sara, who was out in the open, standing away from her fort.

Aww, snow fun for the triplets! :3