The wild, wild West (Arthur Morgan x f!reader)

CHAPTER 20 - Rain and letters

Short one today. Have fun :)

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Cold drops on my face woke me up. I reached for my hat to pull it lower, so that the wide brim would protect me from the rough weather conditions, but I only felt my own hair under my fingertips.

I was alone, alone in the wilderness again. Somewhere to my right, a horse snorted. It was Cassie, my Arabian mare.

Why didn't I set up a tent? But wait - Didn't I set up a tent? There had been a tent, right?

Desoriented, I blinked and opened my eyes slowly. Yeah, that's a tent. Made from thick, brown fabric and definitely not mine. I sensed slight snoring coming from it. And the horses that were hitched to a tree next to the tent weren't Cassie. Smith. Random brown mare that Arthur never named. Oh.

Arthur.

That's who was snoring inside the tent. Good thing I didn't sleep inside, he would have kept me up all night. My hat laid next to the burnt out fireplace. Drops of dew glistened on the rough black fabric and the first raindrops mixed with them. I leaned back against the tree and closed my eyes again. The distress I had felt before had dissolved and an odd content settled in.

The rain rustled in the leaves and ran down my face. It soaked my blouse and trousers. My leather vest shielded my upper body from the rain. Still I could feel the water running down my back and shivered. There was the coat that pooled around my hands and arms, it had slipped of my shoulders while I slept. But I wasn't really cold, so I kept it there.

There was a commotion over in the field, it sounded like... horses? I squinted my eyes. It took a moment to spot the sleek siluettes of the animals in the blurred landscape. The rain hid them well enough.

„They're beautiful, aren't they?"

I jumped at the voice beside me. My eyes shot to Arthur and I bit back the sharp reply I was about to give. He spoke with a gravelly, deeper voice than usual, hinting at the fact that he just woke up. His eyes looked tired and a little distant, but a lively spark shimmered in them. The gray morning twilight illuminated his face and made him look a lot younger and more innocent than usual. I hummed in agreement and felt how my lips twisted upwards in a little smile.

We watched the small herd in silence, content with the view. Two young horses broke out of the group, bucking, jumping and rearing. Their wet coats shimmered, highlighting each muscle with every movement. One was a tall black mare with long legs and a short mane, the other one had a greyish white coat with small black speckles.

I examined the second horse. „That one, isn't that we're lookin' for? Looks like a few spot to me."

Arthur squinted his eyes. „Yeah, I guess. You down to gettin' him?"

I grimaced. „I'm soaked."

He made a noise that sounded like a dry chuckle and stood up from his crouching position. „Better head inside, princess, you'll catch a cold."

„And you don't break your neck on that horse, pretty boy.", I huffed with a little smirk and watched how he marched off.

He was pretty good at getting close to the horse without spooking it off, I had to give him that. He came pretty close to the stallion we had picked out and didn't use a lasso. There wouldn't have been a point in that anyways, that horse was definitely a lot stronger than Arthur. Seeing him getting dragged off would have been a great show though.

When he was almost close enough to touch the stallion the part I disliked about this started. In one swift movement. Arthur jumped on the unsuspecting horses back. It didn't even take one second for it to react. The animal lunged forward with a terrified screech and kicked wildly, then he reared and almost slipped on the wet ground. For a moment it looked like he would fall over.