Curiosity Industry
Part Three

A checkered bandanna to his mouth, Herman steadied himself in the breeze coming down the highway, the teeming dust all aswirl around him. Long for his age, in the middle of those awkward teenage years, his arms and legs had outgrown the rest of his slender frame. Resembling a scarecrow come to life, he lurched down the road with his thumb in the air.

His family was in a bit of a rough patch. His pa had been sick and his ma had four kids to mind. Herman's leaving at least made it one less for her. He hoped to earn enough money to send something back.

Herman couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his gut at leaving his brother, Henry at the mercy of the town bully. But Herman's family was counting on him to hold a job and help them out, the best he could. He had been the protector almost as long as Henry been alive. It was time Henry learned to take care of himself.