The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (25 page)

'Ask God to heal Mrs Willis,' Billy says
.

Taliesin expects to feel and see something -electric
currents or lightning shooting from the end of his fingers
.
But all he feels and
sees is the breathing of Mrs Willis who has her eyes closed, and the soft
murmuring of Billy Evans, whispering pianissimo prayers. The lady seems to
relax to his touch. It is an extraordinary thing to do and yet it feels utterly
meant, as natural as drinking tea. He is healing someone, playing a duet
alongside his teacher and all it requires is belief.

Billy
smiles as he prays, assured of things hoped for, certain of things not seen
.
He runs his hand vertically down the back and
then horizontally across the shoulders, drawing out a cross
.
Taliesin watches Billy's lips and tries to pray
too. He repeats the prayer in his head over and over. 'Heal her
b
ack, please heal her back.' Every now and again
he mimics
B
illy and adds the name of Jesus,
a name that has the power
to
both embarrass
and delight
.

Thi
s is a
m
agic
of
s
ome kind. Right here in this stuf
fy
bun
galow
th
ere
i
s a
m
agic
b
eing
unleashed and
chann
elled
un
seen
thr
ough
th
e
h
ands o
f h
is
piano teacher and
throu
gh
hi
s ow
n h
ands
t
oo.
It i
s a s
weet mu
sic
of po
ssibility a
nd it is pl
aying
h
ere i
n h
is v
illage; n
ot
in a jungle with
drums drummin
g, 0 Dea
rly B
eloved;
n
ot i
n
a c
astle with pip
es
pipin
g,
n
or
l
eagues
b
eneath
th
e ocea
n w
ith
starfish d
ancing;
but h
ere
in thi
s ve
ry norm
al,
v
ery
dull place that doesn't even f
eature
in hi
s a
tlas.

A
s
th
ey
pr
ay,
Mr
s
W
illis
m
oves
ba
ck
her n
eck
and
s
tarts to
s
traighten up
. S
he
o
pens h
er
mouth but f
or
on
ce ca
n't find
wo
rds.
Ta
liesin
watc
hes
t
he
s
mall, crumpl
ed
wom
an
l
ose yea
rs
as s
he
ex
tends h
er
b
ack a
nd unb
ends
.

'T
hat's it
,
l
et
it
co
me,' Bill
y s
ays
.

T
aliesin
k
eeps
hi
s
h
ands
th
ere
on Mrs W
illis's
b
ack,
not r
eally
beli
eving t
hat h
e's
h
elping
much
.
Billy'
s
the on
e
who'
s
d
oing
it
,
h
e
think
s.
Mr
s
Willis
's
mouth is still op
en,
emitting s
oundless
w
ords.
Th
en
Talie
sin
feels movement under his h
and,
a
h
ard
pr
essing
mov
ement.

'I
ca
n mo
ve
it
,' s
he
says
,
i
n
a
whi
sper n
ow. Talie
sin c
an f
eel
th
e
m
ovement.
Mr
s
W
illis
s
ounds
different n
ow, so
much qui
eter
th
an
b
efore
.
She
's
stopped talking
rubbi
sh.
'You
've
d
one i
t, Mr
Eva
ns. S
omething's
happened to
m
e.
I
don't
k
now
w
hat
y
ou've d
one,
but
y
ou've don
e
it
,' s
he sa
ys
.

Bill
y
'
s
lip
s a
re
s
till mov
ing.
He
a
ppears to b
e
th
anking s
omeone oth
er
th
an
h
imself.
Taliesin has for
gotten
to br
eathe
and h
e
f
eels s
udden drumming inside his chest
.
Mr
s
Willis is
c
rying.
'T
hank
y
ou, Mr Evan
s.
Thank you,'
s
he
sa
ys.

'
It's n
ot
m
e,
Mr
s
Willi
s,'
Billy
s
ays
.
'Don
't
thank m
e.'

CHAPTER SEVEN

A
T
NI
GHT ,
th
e
qu
estions c
ome
:
wh
y a
m I h
ere a
nd n
ot
th
ere?
Wh
y
am I m
e
and n
ot
th
em?
B
efore
I
was
m
e,
wh
ere
w
as
I? Wh
ere w
ill I b
e
wh
en
I'm n
ot
m
e?
T
aliesin s
tares
a
t th
e
w
all
f
or
an
swers.

Th
e wa
lls
o
f hi
s
b
edroom a
re
cove
red
i
n
a vivi
d blu
e-
flow
ered
p
aper
a
nd the p
atterns
h
ave
a
m
esmeric
qu
ality.
Th
ere a
re f
our
d
istinct
m
otifs:
a
fl
eur-de-lys, a
d
affodil
,
a
tulip
, a
nd
a
ro
se.
Trying t
o
find th
e
b
eginnings a
nd
e
nds of th
ese
fl
owers
i
s
a kind of pr
ayer.
L
ying
in bed
with th
e
light
o
n
s
taring at th
e
ce
iling
can b
e
lik
e s
pace tr
avel
-
th
e
unbr
oken
s
wirls
o
f the
pattern
s
se
eming as
in
finite as e
ternity
it
self.

H
e
pu
shes
hi
s
warmed f
eet
int
o
th
e
c
ool pat
ches a
nd
s
huns
Ju
st So
St
ories.
T
aliesin
n
ow
kno
ws
how th
e
el
ephant
go
t it
s
trunk
,
h
ow
th
e
l
eopard ea
rned it
s
s
pots and h
ow
th
e
ca
mel r
eceived i
ts
hump. Th
ey're a
ll
g
ood r
easons a
lthough
non
e
of th
em a
re ment
ioned i
n
Th
e
En
cyclopedia of
th
e
Livin
g
World
.
Wh
at
h
e'd
lik
e
to k
now
now i
s
How Th
e
B
oy
Got His Wart
s.
H
e
n
otices
the two
wart
s o
n th
e e
nd of hi
s
ind
ex
fin
ger a
nd
a
n
ew
third
o
ne on hi
s
m
iddle
fi
nger th
at
must
hav
e s
prung
o
n
him in the dark.

An
other
f
antastic
s
tory c
omes
to m
ind
.
Sin
ce
th
e ex
traordin
ary
ex
perience in Billy Ev
ans
'
s s
itting room
,
T
aliesin
h
as
reliv
ed
that b
ack-straightening
f
eat a
thous
and
tim
es,
trying to
r
ecall
it
as
pr
ecisely
a
s
h
e
can
s
o that h
e
mi
ght
c
atch
the very m
oment
of the
c
hange. H
e sees
Mr
s
Willis b
efore
the pr
ayer a
nd
after, h
is
hand ho
vering
on h
er
bony back. He
r
emembers
h
er
t
ears as s
he
was esco
rted to the
ca
r, th
e
litt
le
ji
g s
he d
id
in th
e ya
rd
a
nd th
e as
tonishment
o
f her
s o
n
a
t the
s
ight. And th
en
Bill
y's ca
lm m
atter o
f f
actness.
H
ow
The
La
dy H
ad
H
er
B
ack S
traightened i
s a
stor
y
th
at
h
e'd
lik
e
t
o
t
ell.