Between Two Trees (Mush Meyers x Reader)

XIV

"Good morning sunshine!" Peggy sang, whisking open the curtains in your borrowed room the next morning. "Mm, that would have worked better if it was light outside."

"Ugh. Lemme sleep." You muttered, rolling away from the non-existent light. 

"Mush wants to take you out." 

"What?" You sat up quickly. 

"That was a lie, sorry. But you're awake now." Peggy smiled at you happily. "Get up, we're going fishing."

"Why?" You asked, flopping back onto the bed. 

"Because it's fun. And it was Blink's idea. But you have to come so Mush isn't third wheeling." 

With a groan you rolled out of bed. "Fine, give me a minute." 

Seven minutes later, you were following Peggy across the fields behind her house, apparently towards a river. Mush and Blink were already there, according to Peggy. 

"Okay, now you have to be very quiet so that we can scare them." Peggy told you as you drew near the place. "They're just over this ridge." 

You followed her over the knoll, peeking over to see the two boys intently examining a can of worms. 

"Yes, that should be enough." Blink said, just as Peggy jumped over the bank and directly into the river with a yell. 

You blinked, hoping you weren't expected to follow. Peggy surfaced with a grin on her face as Mush scolded, "You've probably gone and scared away all the fish now, thanks a lot." 

"You love me." Peggy said, climbing out of the river and hugging him before he could duck away, which made his clothes dripping too. "And you can't be mad at me, I brought Y/N." 

"Huh?" Mush's head whipped around to see you making your way down the bank. 

"Good morning. Or, late night. Whichever this is." You said, catching yourself on a tree branch and stumbling to a stop next to the three. 

"Morning, technically." Blink said, grinning. 

"Uh huh." You shook your head. "Anyway, are we going to fish or not?" 

Mush produced four poles from nowhere, each with a small hook at the end. "Yep. We're all ready." 

"Wonderful." You took a pole and sat down on the bank, examining the end. "How is the worm supposed to stay on this?" 

"Here, I can do it for you." Mush offered, and you handed the pole to him. He expertly stuck the worm on the end, and you regarded the now-baited hook with mild disgust. 

"Lovely, thank you." You said, taking the pole back with a little smile in Mush's direction. 

"Blinkkk can you bait mine?" Peggy asked, laying down on a rock spread eagled. 

"Yeah, sure. But you know how, you've been doing it for years."

"Yes, I know, I'm just lazy." Peggy replied, shutting her eyes. 

Blink laughed and baited two poles, laying one next to her and casting his own in. 

"All you gotta do is drop the line in, hold the pole, and wait for a tug. When you've got a tug that means you've got something, and then you pull it up quick before the fish gets away." Mush explained, sitting next to you.

You nodded, dropping the line in next to his. The area was slowly beginning to lighten, and, as Mush told you, was the best time to go fishing. 

The four of you chatted quietly among yourselves, about various subjects and random things. 

"Did you know, there's livestock going missing around here?" Blink asked after a little. "Last night I heard Pa talking about it with some of the others. Johnson's sheep are all gone. They're figuring rustlers." 

"'Round here?" Peggy said, incredulous. "Nothing ever so exciting as rustlers happens around here." 

"Yeah, well, what else would it have been?" 

"But where'd they take 'em?" Mush asked, brow furrowed. "Johnson's place is down in that valley, flat as a table top for miles around." 

"They think there's a cave or something where they're hiding. The men were talking about searching the area. Might go with 'em." Blink said, his casual tone belying the excitement in his eyes. 

"That'd be fun." Peggy said thoughtfully. "Might join you." 

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Blink and Mush said at the same time. 

Peggy scowled at them both. "SUre. Leave me and Y/N behind by ourselves, lonely and alone and left out of all the fun." 

You kept quiet, even though you weren't sure it was 'fun' to go searching for sheep thieves. It sounded like something out of a storybook, though-- exciting.

"Hey, we could head over there ourselves." Peggy continued, her eyes lighting up. "Johnson's place is right down the river from ours you know. We could find some clues, maybe even find the rustlers." 

Blink looked like he was tempted. Mush, however, did not. "Peggy, that's the dumbest thing you've said today." 

"I still got time to top it." Peggy retorted, before pausing. "Wait, that's not quite what I meant to say." 

Mush ignored her, continuing. "Who knows how many of 'em there are? And they're bound to be pretty violent, too. They're criminals after all." 

"It's not like I'm gonna fight 'em, I promise." Peggy said, holding up one hand. "We'll be stealthy-like, scout 'em out." 

Mush hesitated.

"I'll go with." You spoke up finally, making up your mind. "It'll be an adventure, that's for sure." 

"Alright, fine." Mush said at last. "But we'd better start now."