Harley Hogues Mountain

Copyright 2012 by Darrel Bird

  The miracle, or the power, that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance under the prompting of a brave, determined spirit.

  Mark Twain

  This idea for this story is based on a true story that I heard, if it has ever been written the author is unaware of it. Some elements of this story resemble the story I heard and is not in any way meant to plagiarize anyone’s works.

  Harley Hogue’s Mountain

  DARREL BIRD

  It was 1948 when Harley Hogue reached his eighteenth birthday. Harley Hogue was raised in the hills and hollows of back wood's Kentucky. A forested land graced by emerald streams. His Mama’s cabin was on the county road out 25 miles from Lewisville and six miles down from a church house whose logs had been clap boarded over just as his Mama’s house had been.

  Harley figured they called it clap board because they clapped it over the many log homes so the winter winds did not make its way through the chinks and pert near freeze a man to death.

  Now there was nothing that stood out about Harley Hogue except that he couldn’t read a lick. There were other children what was raised in the back woods that couldn’t read either, but this is about Harley and there ain’t no use going into the details of others.

  One Tuesday evening in the spring Harley was walking down the road by the church, and he seen the prettiest girl he had ever laid eyes on out in the front of that church house.

  That made a believer out of Harley, and he decided right then and there he would start attending church the very next Sunday that rolled around.

  Now that church house had the pastor’s house adjacent to it, the girl was the pastor’s daughter, and she was a looker, you can believe that.

  I reckon I got to explain these things to get started out proper like to let you know why Harley went up there to church in the first place.

  Harley was a hard worker that helped his Mama with the garden, the chickens, the cow and the truck patch; he had inherited twenty acres of land across the road from his Mama’s house, which was nothing more than pert near a straight-up mountain.

  “Mama, I aim to start going to that church up the road this Sunday,” Says Harley, as soon as he walked through the door.

  “Right after you milk that cow and feed the chickens Harley. It's after sundown and she ain’t been milked yet; I reckon the chickens have all gone to roost, but they got to have something to eat in the morning.”

  “I’m Sorry I’m late Mama, but I seen the prettiest girl in the whole world today up in that church yard up the road and I aim to marry her for a wife.”

  “Well, you go on up there, and maybe she’ll talk to you son, but that ain’t no sign she’ll marry you.”

  Harley went to sleep that night with the vision of the girl in all her splendors stuck in his mind like a tick on a hound dog, and that’s where it stayed in the rest of the week.

  Come Sunday Harley pulled on his best over hauls and the only pair of shoes he had and slicked down his hair with lard.

  He headed down the road with determination in every step. When he pulled up to the church, there was a passel of people there.

  A sign read, ‘Revival today’. He looked around the church yard which was filled with cars, trucks and a few teams of mules calmly munching at their feed bag, and he almost backed out of going inside. He wasn’t used to so many people in one place, but the vision stayed with him and carried him across the thresh hold.

  Now the gist of it was that the Holy Spirit began tugging on Harley’s soft heart and instead of getting the girl, he got the Lord Jesus, so he went back on Sunday night to get the girl too.

  That night the pastor preached a long sermon, and he preached it so hard that Harley got the preachers itch, but like I told you already, he couldn’t read a word out of the good book, nor any other book.

  “Mama, that preacher said that whatever I believe, I will receive, and I got to learn to read before I can preach. I’m going to the woods, and I ain’t coming out till I can read that Bible.”

  “Now son, you cain’t do that, you go on down to Lewisville, and maybe you can find someone to teach you to read; you can’t just go off in the woods like that.”

  “No now Mama, the preacher didn’t say to go to Lewisville; he said just believe.”

  So Harley took off to the woods like a cat with his tail afire. His Mama just shook her head as he disappeared into the tree line back of the truck patch, “That boy ain’t got a lick of sense. Now Lord you just got to take care of him; he's getting too big for me to handle.”

  Harley built himself up a fire and began to pray for the Lord to let him read. He prayed the first day, the second day, and the third day with the Bible open in his hands and the third day he looked at the Bible, and he could read every word.

  He bursted through the back door, “Mama; I can read the Bible! I can read the Bible!”

  “Read something to me Harley.” He started in Genesis and began to read the Bible to his mother just as slick as a frog on a Lilly pad.

  His Mama couldn’t read, but she had heard enough of the word to know the boy could read. “Well, I’ll be hanged Harley; you can read that book!”

  “I keep forgetting to get what I went up there for, and I’m goin’ next Sunday to get her for my wife.”

  “But son, she may not want to come with you. Have you talked to her?”

  “No, I ain’t yet; I'm going to talk to her this Sunday.”

  On the next Sunday, the preacher asks who would like to read out of the Bible, and Harley shoots his hand up. “I’ll do it!”

  “Come on up here son and read for us.”

  Harley opened the Bible to read and that got the attention of the girl; she was smitten from the git go.

  Out under the trees after church love budded, then went straight to full bloom, leaving Harley Hogue the happiest man in the world except for one thing, Harley wanted to preach.

  Now Harley could read the Bible, but that was the only thing he could read; he couldn’t read a lick out of the newspaper or any other book. I reckon he forgot to include other stuff in his prayers.

  Anyhow, Harley continued courting Rose Ann, which was her name; did I forget to mention that? I did didn’t I?

  The good pastor wasn’t in much of a hurry to let Rose Ann go off with Harley, but he said Harley could come to the house and visit, as long as he behaved himself toward her.

  Harley was content to sit in the house and hold her hand for now, and he did sneak in a kiss once or twice down at the spring.

  “Mama, I’m going to build me a church across the road on that land pap left me, so I can preach out of it.” He announced one day after he had visited Rose Ann, and the chores were done.

  “Son, that mountain is pert near straight up; you can’t build a church on that! Maybe you can get the money to buy you a piece of level ground.”

  “I ain’t never gonna get that much money Mama, and I got to have me a church and a little bit of land to build Rose Ann a house on fore we can get married.”

  “The Lord said if I believe that mountain will be moved, and I aim to pray till he does it.

  “I aim to go to the woods and pray until the Lord makes a way.”

  “Now boy, you can’t go off in them woods and just stay there, you know it worries me when you go off in them woods, and that land is as straight up as I have ever seen."

  “Don’t worry about me Mama, I got to go now.” Harley disappeared into the woods again behind the truck patch as his Mama worriedly watched him go.

  “Lord, you got to look after that boy.” She prayed as she walked back and fourth wringing her hands.

  Harley didn’t come back for a solid
week, and his Mama was worried nigh onto death, but one day a man pulled up in a truck in the front yard.

  “I’m looking for Harley Hogue, is he here?”

  “What do you want with Harley? He ain’t here. I’m his Mama.”

  “I represent a coal-mining company in Lewisville; the mining company would like to strip mine the land across the road. We will level the land and would pay him good to get the rights to do that.”

  She ran to the back door and yelled at the top of her voice, “Harley; you can come home now, the Lord done moved your mountain!”

  Harley heard her screaming, thought something was wrong and came running. He was in such a hurry, he ran clean over a grazing chicken.

  “What’s wrong Mama?” He grabbed his