Between Two Trees (Mush Meyers x Reader)

IX

A/N: WOOP WOOP 2 CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY? WHAT IS THIS STRANGE THING CALLED "INSPIRATION"- 

By the time that the two horses reached your house, Blink was already standing there. 

"Took ya long enough." He said, by way of greeting, as you three slid from the backs of the horses. 

Peggy said something to Artemis and patted her. Artemis shook her mane and started trotting back towards her stable, Jupiter following after. Peggy shouldered her bag and turned to the others. "Right, let's go."

"I was thinking if we started along one side and went down all the way to the edge of ya property, we could come back up along the other and just kinda zigzag through." Mush said, mostly to you. 

"That sounds good." You nodded, and he smiled. 

"Great, let's go." Peggy chimed in happily, grabbing your arm and towing you towards the tree line. 

The four of you walked in companionable silence, which was broken occasionally by Peggy talking, Mush and Blink bantering, Peggy and Mush bantering, or Peggy and Blink bantering. You were mostly quiet, except for a couple laughs and comments here and there. 

About an hour later, no barn in sight and just coming to the edge of the property line now, Mush said, "So, Pegs, what's in the bag?" 

"None of your beeswax, Mushy." She replied, gripping it tighter. "It's for lunch, and you're not getting it until we're well and proper hungry." 

"I'm very hungry." Blink chimed in, grinning a little. "Near starved, in fact." 

"You are not."

"Who says?" Blink grinned wider. 

"Me." Peggy replied with a firm nod. 

"It's kind of late." Mush pointed out. "Maybe we should have an early lunch." 

"Please." Peggy scoffed. "Boys and their food." She tsked, shaking her head. 

"Look there's this nice creek here, and these big rocks, and it's shaded..." Blink said, dropping down to walk along the wide, shallow creek bed, looking up at Peggy and making his eyes big. 

You could tell she was faltering. Luckily, Mush of all people solved the problem. 

"Look! Strawberries!" He said jubilantly, pointing at a patch across the water. 

You grinned a little. "How 'bout we eat those now, and save the food for later?" You suggested. 

The suggestion was met with nods and grins all around. 

"How're we going to get across?" Peggy asked, dropping down next to Blink. 

You and Mush followed, glancing around. 

"We can just walk across." Blink said, beginning to roll up his pants. Mush did the same. 

Peggy frowned slightly. "Boring. How 'bout a piggyback ride?" She said, looking at Blink hopefully. 

He glanced momentarily at Mush before grinning at her. "Yeah, sure."

Peggy grinned and leapt onto Blink's back. You figured this was a regular occurrence as all three acted as if it was everyday. 

Then Mush turned to you, blushing a tiny bit. "D'you..." 

You were blushing softly, but nodded. You caught the tiniest bit of a smile as he turned around and as you did the same as Peggy had, albeit a little slower. 

Mush easily crossed the river, which was about eight feet across. Blink almost easily crossed the river, except for the part where he stepped on a loose stone and sent both him and Peggy tumbling to their bottoms. Peggy was giggling up a storm as they stumbled to the other side, both collapsing on the bank. 

"Sorry." Blink muttered when they were over there. 

"Don't bother." Peggy giggled more, smiling at him. "It wasn't nearly as bad as when you tried to carry me when you were ten and we both fell onto that fire ant nest." 

That definitely sounded worse than falling into a creek. 

"Besides, I'm not hot any more." Peggy shrugged. 

Blink seemed to mumble something that just maybe could have been "Not in that way." 

Then again. 

It could have been "What a weird day." 

You and Mush, meanwhile, were picking strawberries. 

"I suggest you come get some before Y/N picks them all." Mush said, both as a way to tease you a little and to get his pretty-much-sister back by him. 

"Hey!" You laughed softly, tossing a ripe berry at his head. 

He laughed too, twisting around and catching it in his mouth. "Delicious, thank you." He said after swallowing, a grin on his face. 

"Oo, that was impressive. Blink, catch!" Peggy said, grabbing a berry and throwing it at the boy. It bounced off the side of his head, leaving a slightly red mark on his skin. 

"Hey!" 

The battle quickly escalated, the four of you laughing nearly uncontrollably by the time you called a truce, deciding to eat the berries rather than throw them. Especially since Blink and Mush were starving. 

*

A couple hours later, it was beginning to get the tiniest bit darker. The property nearly all covered, and you were no closer to finding the barn. 

"Maybe there isn't a stable here after all." You mumbled, discouraged.

"Maybe not." Mush agreed, stumbling over a plank. 

"Hey, where'd that plank come from?" Peggy pointed, which was unnecessary, as the rest of you were all staring at it. 

"Barn?" Blink suggested. 

"Right in front of y'all's faces." Peggy shook her head, pointing, in fact, to the wooden structure that seemed to be built into a small rocky hill. "I told you we should have started from this side." She said, pointing through the trees to the house, which you could see in the distance. 

"You did not." Mush shook his head back at her, as Blink and you walked curiously up to the stable. 

You opened the door, peering inside. It was dark, but enough light trickled in that you were able to see a roughly outlined set of stalls and wood that extended a little into the hill. 

"This doesn't look like a very good barn." Mush commented behind you, and based on the one the Meyer's had, you had to agree. You stepped in and were hit with a waft of cool, musty air. 

"I think it goes back into a cave or something." Peggy piped up from the back of the group, squeezing her way to the front. 

"Should we come back later?" You asked, glancing around. "With a light or something?" 

"No need, Y/N." Peggy said, rummaging in her bag and pulling four long white candles triumphantly from it, along with a single match. Passing her bag off to Blink, she lit the candles and handed them out one by one. 

Now that there was light, you could see that the barn extended a lot farther in than you had thought. 

The four of you looked at each other, then, together, started walking further into the darkness.