The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (23 page)

T
aliesin s
tares blankly at th
e
mu
sic.
Th
e
ga
ps
a
re n
ot
f
ormally i
ndicated
o
n the
sco
re; th
ere a
re n
o c
urling
G's o
r extra
s
paces t
o g
uide him.

'
I d
on't
kn
ow
wh
at y
ou m
ean-
ab
out
th
e ga
ps,
'
h
e says.

'
They're th
e se
cret t
o
it. N
ot
ju
st
mu
sic.
But
eve
rything el
se:
t
alking,
l
aughing,
bre
athing
.
It
's
lik
e a
t
ime
in b
etween s
omething,
w
hen n
othing
h
appens a
nd
w
hen
yo
u're n
ot
l
ooking
b
ack o
r for
ward.
The
ga
ps mak
e
th
e
thin
gs a
round th
em, e
ither
s
ide, stand out.' Billy p
auses
a
nd
ca
tches h
is
br
eath
b
efore go
ing
o
n.
'
So if! pl
ay a
n
ote
lik
e
thi
s
.
.
. a
nd I lift lip m
y
fin
ger
.
.
'
.a
nd th
en
pl
ay
it
agai
n
.
.
.
yo
u
ca
n h
ear
th
at
the
ga
p i
s
m
ore i
mportant th
an
th
e
n
ote
.
Wi
thout
th
e ga
p the n
otes a
re ju
st
n
otes.
Tr
y
it
ag
ain
.
'

A
s
Talie
sin
p
lays
h
e
can f
eel
the wart
a
t th
e e
nd
o
f h
is
ind
ex
fin
ger
.
It h
as g
rown to the
s
ize of
a
p
ea
in
a
m
atter o
f d
ay sa
nd it hurt
s
when he applies pre
ssure
to th
e
k
ey.

'Have
a sip of
yo
ur tea,
'
Bill
y sa
ys. 'I think w
e ca
n l
eave
"
The Dan
cing
B
ear".
Y
ou
kn
ow
it w
ell
enou
gh.
Y
ou
n
eed a
n
ew
p
iece
t
o s
tir up
yo
ur
e
nthusiasm
.'

B
illy t
urns
t
he p
age on t
he
sta
nd
a
nd
a
n
ew
pi
ece sits
th
ere, u
ntried, u
nheard,
li
ke some co
mplex
e
quation. It
's ca
lled
'B
ugles!'
and Ta
liesin
ca
n
o
nly
g
uess
a
t it
s
tun
e.
H
e sees
that th
e
n
otes
ri
se a
nd
fa
ll but h
e c
annot b
e s
ure
of w
hat th
ey in
dicate. H
e sim
ply
ca
n't und
erstand
th
is
l
anguage o
f black d
ots.
I
f o
nly
staffs, se
mibr
eves,
cl
efs,
b
ars a
nd
c
rotchets w
ere
l
ike wo
rds
i
n
a
b
ook,
th
en
h
e'd
pl
ay
th
em.
If
o
nly th
e
n
otes
m
ade so
unds th
e
w
ay
th
at wo
rds m
ade
pi
ctures,
th
en
h
e'd
b
e a p
layer. H
e ca
n't
wo
rk
o
ut
t
he
firs
t n
ote so
h
e places a ho
peful
finger somew
here
nea
r
t
he
m
iddle
.

'That's
a B,' Billy says, ever encouraging. 'One more up
.
C,
that's it
.'
The next note is higher up the lines
so it could be an E or an F. He flukes the F. 'Good
.'
Then he sees that there are notes to play with his left hand
a
t th
e sa
me tim
e
.

'
I
can'
t
do it,'
T
aliesin says
. H
e
is rea
dy t
o
t
ell
everyt
hing
.
'Yes
yo
u
ca
n
.
Try i
t
.
C, F, a
nd
wi
th th
e
l
eft . '
'
I
ca
n' t.'
T
here
is a si
lence. A l
ong
ga
p.
'
I kn
ow
t
hat
yo
u
fi
nd th
e no
tes h
ard.
W
e ca
n
go
ove
r th
em agai
n
i
f
yo
u l
ike,'
Bill
y says
.

T
he pr
etence
h
as
t
o co
me t
o a
n end
soo
n
.

A
nother
l
ong a
nd
sig
nificant
ga
p.
Ta
liesin l
ooks a
t th
e score an
d h
angs
hi
s
h
ead.

'
We d
on't
h
ave
t
o co
ntinue i
f yo
u d
on't wa
nt
to.
Y
ou ca
n't f
orce
i
t,'
B
illy says.
H
e co
ughs
again a
nd put
s
hi
s
h
and to
hi
s
m
outh.

'My
mother was hoping I'd be able to play her a carol by Christmas,' Taliesin says.
'I'm going to see her then.' 'It's you that matters,' Billy says. 'You've got
to want to d
o
it
fo
r
yo
urself
firs
t.
It d
oesn't ma
tter
w
hether
yo
ur
mo
ther
o
r
your fa
ther
ex
pect to
yo
u
.’

Ta
liesin
wan
ts t
o
s
ay
h
e’
d li
ke
t
o
k
eep
tr
ying
.
In
stead
h
e
m
anages so
mething n
earer
th
e
truth
. '
I l
ike com
ing h
ere for lesso
ns
.
'

B
illy see
ms h
appy a
t thi
s. '
Well, th
at is a goo
d r
eason to
m
e.
Bu
t yo
ur p
arents pay
m
e
t
o
t
each yo
u. W
e'll
hav
e to c
rack th
ese
n
otes
-
go
b
ack
t
o
th
e
b
eginning. '

T
aliesin fi
nds
a foc
us, som
ething
t
o s
tare
at
h
ard
t
o make t
he
prob
lem
go away
. On
top of t
he
p
iano h
e
n
otices a
ph
otograph of a
m
an wea
ring
a
ru
gby
j
ersey a
nd
a c
uriously ill-
fitting
ca
p
o
n h
is
h
ead.
Th
e c
hildish
ca
p i
s
in
congruous o
n thi
s Grow
n-Up
.
Th
e
pla
yer
h
as no
n
eck and
h
is sm
ile r
eveals o
nly
t
hree t
eeth.
Th
e
phot
ograph is
s
igned.