The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (14 page)

'It's
only me, Moss,' he says, like a tentative postman. He's never felt comfortable
talking to animals, unlike his mother
who can
h
old who
le
co
nversations
w
ith
c
ats
.

The
certainty that he has felt all day ebbs away as he approaches his home. He
slows as he comes into the outside
li
ght of
th
e
h
ouse. T
he r
ain
th
at
f
alls
in front
o
f th
e
l
ight
i
s
s
uddenly b
rilliant,
fl
ashing w
hite. Rain
is
ri
vering
d
own
th
e s
lant
o
f th
e
roof
,
filling the
g
uttering
a
nd
o
ver-spilling
o
nto th
e
fr
ont co
ncrete. It splatter
s
l
oudly a
nd th
e s
pillage
c
reates a m
oat a
bout th
e
hou
se,
lik
e
a c
astle.
N
ot so
l
ong ago
h
e ca
lled hi
s
hou
se a cas
tle
.
It wa
s
th
e ce
ntre o
f a
kin
gdom w
hose l
aws a
nd bound
aries
w
ere
unque
stioned.
All th
ings we
re
we
ll in th
e
kin
gdom a
nd it seemed no
e
vil
co
uld com
e
t
o
it. Th
en o
ne day
,
th
e
qu
een
w
as
offered a shinin
g
r
ed
apple in whi
ch s
he
sa
w th
e
r
eflection
of the person
s
he w
anted
to b
e.
Sh
e
r
ealized
th
at a
ll thi
s
tim
e s
he hadn't b
een
h
erself,
not happ
y a
t
a
ll
.
S
he
o
nly h
ad
t
o
t
ake
the appl
e
to b
e
h
appy aga
in. Alth
ough
th
e
l
aws o
f th
e
kin
gdom
forbad
e
h
er to
t
ake
th
e a
pple, it
s s
pell
was
t
oo s
trong. She abdicat
ed
h
er t
hrone
a
nd l
eft t
he kin
g a
nd hi
s
t
wo so
ns b
ehind.
And n
o
on
e
w
as
sur
e o
f
any
thing any m
ore.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE EVENTS OF LAST YEAR
li
nger a
round th
e
r
ooms
in
petr
ified
time. When Ta
liesin's
m
other
left
,
th
e clocks i
n th
e
h
ouse a
ll
stopped
.
It
was s
he
w
ho
se
t th
e
p
endulum sw
inging
a
nd i
t was a
lway
s
h
e
r who
tu
rned
th
e
k
ey of
th
e ca
rriage
clock that ticked a furious
l
ittle
ti
ck o
n the m
antle piece
in th
e
s
itt
i
ng room
.
W
h
e
n
sh
e
l
e
ft s
he t
ook
t
ime
pre
sent a
nd f
uture wi
th h
er,
leavi
ng t
ime
p
ast a
nd
i
mperfect solidi
fying
t
o s
tony t
ense
m
emori
e
s. Si
nce
s
he l
eft
T
aliesin
has n
oticed
h
er.
H
e's e
ven f
elt
h
e
r
pr
esenc
e
m
ore s
trongly th
an
th
ose w
ho
a
r
e s
till l
ivin
g
in
t
he h
ouse w
ith h
im.
In h
er a
bsence h
e'
s
b
een ge
tting t
o
kn
ow and a
ppreciate h
er.

Th
e
coat rac
k t
ells
h
im
th
at
h
is fa
ther ha
s
fin
ished wo
rk
on
th
e fa
rm
a
nd t
aken
h
i
s
co
rduroy
jac
ket to th
e G
olden Fl
eece. His work
s
moc
k
and jacket a
re r
ecently
hun
g a
nd
s
till
wet
.
Ta
li
es
in
's
ow
n
for
gotte
n
a
norak m
ocks
him
a
nd r
eminds
h
im
th
at
th
ing
s
ca
n
c
hange
ve
ry qui
ckly,
e
ven
in
a
d
ay
.
Hi
s
br
other
'
s boo
ts
a
nd m
ack
h
ave
b
een
dump
ed o
n th
e
fl
oor,
pr
obably disca
rded
i
n
a
hurr
y
t
o c
atch
a
tel
evision
p
ro g
ramm
e
.
A
s
ilk h
eadscarf
bel
onging
t
o
his m
other
i
s
dr
aped o
n th
e end peg,
n
o o
ne d
aring
t
o
t
ouch
or
ac
knowledge i
t.
W
ith
th
is
m
any a
bsconders
a
nd
es
cape
a
rtists und
er o
ne
roof,
it i
s
n
o
s
urp
r
i
se
th
at t
h
e
h
ome
h
as a
n
e
mpty fe
el
t
o
i
t.

It
i
s
q
ui
e
t
e
noug
h
to
h
ear t
he
f
ridge
g
oing t
hrough
th
e
gear
s
.
T
h
e
kit
chen is a mess a
nd
it dr
aws
att
ention
t
o
i
tself
.
With
a
m
other a
round
t
he
fam
ily
we
re pr
otected
fr
om
th
e
d
ecay
a
nd th
e
du
s
t and
th
e
build up of r
efuse
.
N
ow
th
ese
thin
g
s
co
nspir
e
a
nd m
ake
th
emselves
kno
wn
.
E
ven
th
e e
lec
t
ric
ca
bling,
s
omething h
e's
n
ever
n
oticed
b
efor
e,
l
ooks ex
p
osed a
nd
da
ngerous. Th
e to
p
o
f
t
he
frid
ge
h
as a t
hin
fi
lm
of
r
ime an
d th
e ca
r's sau
cer
ha
s
b
ecom
e
sc
ulpted
to
t
h
e s
ur
face ~y
n
eglect.
Th
e
la
ck
of
a
m
other di
scloses
a
ll
ki
nd
s
of t
hin
gs
to
h
is ey
es,
n
ose a
nd
ears
.
Th
ere is
n
o
l
onger a sme
ll
o
f thin
gs s
he mi
ght
h
ave
co
oked or s
prayed
o
n; n
or
th
e si
g
ht
o
f thi
n
g
s s
he mi
ght
h
ave
us
ed,
n
or
th
e
c
olour of
th
ings s
he m
ight
h
av
e
cl
eaned,
n
or
th
e s
ound of h
er voice ins
ulating
aga
inst thi
s
un
comfortable
qui
et.
The
se
thin
g
s
h
e
took for gra
nted
and
b
eing
t
aken
f
or g
ranted wa
s
a thin
g
s
he h
at
ed
-a
long w
ith
n
ot
h
aving e
nough
co
lour in h
er
l
ife
.