Author's Note: Prompt suggested by several of you who wanted to hear the rest of the story from last chapter.


M is for Miracle


They were looking for one of their own and while no one wanted to admit it, that fact weighed heavily on the various members of the sheriff's search and rescue team. Every one of them had wanted to start the search earlier, but they had had to wait for the worst of the storm to pass. Then they had to finish clearing the various traffic accidents in order to free up the personel for the missing person's search. The length of time between when they got the call and when they were able to start the search made all of their engines' ache. The missing vehicle had last been seen heading out onto the plains close to 48 hours ago and given the weather that had occurred over the last day and a half, the sheriff feared that she was sending out her people for a retrieval mission.

The sheriff allowed her eyes to glance across to a photo of the object of their search. His name was Michel Gyllenhaal, but everyone tended to call him Avalanche. While he had grown up as part of the crew of the nearby open-pit mine, Avalanche had decided to strike out on his own and become a professional smokejumper. Now he spent his summers battling fires and his winters back home working alongside his family in the dirt.

Even though Avalanche was a tiny vehicle, he clearly knew how to pull his weight. Soon after gaining his qualifications, he had swung by the sheriff's office to inform her that if they ever wanted his help that all they needed to do was call. He had then swung by every single year to drop off donuts and update his file when he returned to home for the winter. Other than helping with crowd control at a couple of community events, the sheriff hadn't really tapped his skills…and now she was regretting the fact that she probably never would get the chance to really work with him.

She breathed and let her eyes study the map that was spread out across the table. Avalanche's bright yellow paint normally would have made him so simple to find, but the thick layer of snow meant that the entire landscape was a blinding expanse of white. She closed her eyes, wishing that Avalanche had activated his emergency beacon before he was taken out. Unfortunately, the utter lack of a beacon's song only increased the probability of this being a retrieval mission.

Sighing, the sheriff moved to grab a mug of coffee…when her radio crackled to life.

"Team 3 to Base, Team 3 to Base, over."

The sheriff instantly diverted her path to the old base station radio in the corner of the room. Clearing her thoughts, she keyed the mike. "Team 3, this is Base, over."

"Base, we found him." The sheriff found herself squeezing her eyes shut at the news, and she found herself incredibly grateful that Avalanche's family to find out about his death like this…but then the vehicles on the other end of the radio spoke again and turned the sheriff's world on its head. "We found him alive."

Instantly a long stream of questions started cascading through her mind, but she only barked out one. "Condition?"

"Cold, hungry, and hoarse." The Team 3 lead replied with a bit of a chuckle. "But from what we can see, he is in pretty good shape all things considered."

"How?" The Sheriff manages to whisper through her shock.

"He built a snow cave." The rescue team with obvious amusement in their voice. "A pretty nice one, but it is in the bottom of a ravine and given the ice, he wasn't able to dig himself out of the hole he had gotten himself in."

"And you have been able to get him out."

"Working on that ma'am." The team lead actually let out a good nature chuckle. "But I have to admit, even though Avalanche is small, he is heavy."

"ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT!" An unfamiliar voice was caught on the mike and the Sheriff was incredibly grateful her mike wasn't keyed because she couldn't help but let out peals of laughter.

"Yes, we are calling you fat." The team lead shouted back in a good-natured way that told her that this play argument had been going on for a couple of minutes. "Now dig in your treads and help us pull you out."

"Well, then, carry on." The sheriff managed to stammer out once her sides stop shaking. "And if you need any additional resources, please let me know."

"Wilco." There was a slight pause. "Team 3, out."

With that, the Sheriff returned the receiver, then took a moment to press her bumper against the cool metal of the table. Taking a few breathes she whispered a brief prayer of gratitude, then steeled her nerves. Placing a soft smile on her face, she got ready to call Avalanche's family to tell them the good news.


End Note: We sail on to the letter N. Any ideas?