The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (34 page)

T
here i
s a ca
r
o
utside Bill
y's
pl
ace a
nd the li
ghts a
re
a
ll
o
n
i
n th
e
h
ouse. Ta
liesin
has
t
o
kn
ock seve
ral times b
efore
Bill
y co
mes
to t
he
door.

'Co
me
i
n, c
ome
i
n.
I'
ve go
t
s
omeone
w
ith m
e,'
h
e says.

Despi
te th
e
un
expected
t
iming
of th
e ca
ll, B
illy
i
s
full
o
f
g
race
a
nd
ge
nuinely pl
eased
to
see
h
im.
Taliesin f
ollows
h
im
in
to the gassy wa
rmth.
It h
as
r
eached
that
s
tage
o
f th
e yea
r
w
hen
it
's
prefe
rable
to
b
e i
ndoors.

'Tell me, are we
m
eant to
b
e
h
aving
a l
esson
t
oday?'
Billy
asks ge
ntly.
'
Have I f
orgotten?'

'N
o
.
I
wa
nted t
o see yo
u
a
bout
s
omething,' T
aliesin says.

'
Fine.A
s
l
ong as
I h
aven't
for
gotten
a lesson or
so
mething. I'm
getti
ng f
orgetful.'
T
aliesin
c
an
h
ear
people
i
n th
e
l
ounge
.

'
You'd b
etter wa
it h
ere w
hile I fi
x
up thi
s
m
an,'
B
illy w
hispers
.
'I'd
as
k
yo
u t
o
l
end a
h
and
but th
ey're a
b
it f
unny. Th
ere's
t
ea
i
n
th
e
p
ot.'

Ta
liesin
goes
t
o
th
e
kit
chen
but th
e v
oices fr
om
th
e o
ther
room
d
raw
hi
m to
th
e
d
oor
and he
wa
tches throu
gh
th
e ga
p th
ere.
H
e ca
n
see
th
e
p
iano
but th
at's
un
important
n
ow
.

A
young man of about twenty sits in the chair, naked from the waist up
.
Billy has one of his hands on the man's back and
th
e o
ther
o
n h
is
f
orehead.
An
other
m
an,
m
uch
o
lder,
a
nd p
ossibly
th
e
yo
unger m
an's fa
ther,
fidge
ts and looks a
round th
e
r
oom wa
nting t
o
l
eave.
N
ext
t
o
h
im a
woman watc
hes w
ith co
ncern.
S
he must b
e
th
e yo
ung
ma
n's
mo
ther
j
udging fr
om
th
e
way s
he t
akes
th
e
m
an's
h
and,
s
haring hi
s
d
iscomfo
rt. H
er
hu
sband
i
s
a
loof
a
nd un
easy
w
ith
w
hat i
s
t
aking
pl
ace
b
efore
him
.
Bill
y
p
erforms
th
e sa
me
ro
utine th
at
h
e
d
id w
ith Mr
s
W
ill is, ev
en pau
sing
h
alf
w
ay
th
rough
t
o
t
ell of
h
is
l
atest s
uccesses
a
nd failur
es
.
See
n
a
s
econd t
ime th
e
h
ealing
i
s
m
ore
n
atural.

'I
th
ink
thi
s
m
ay t
ake
a
nother t
wo o
r thr
ee sessio
ns,'
B
illy
says
.
'T
here's n
o
t
elling
h
ow
l
ong
it
w
ill t
ake. T
hat p
art is
u
p
t
o Go
d.'
T
he
wo
man nod
s
h
er
h
ead
bu
t
h
er
hu
sband
l
ooks eve
n m
ore
un
easy
.
After th
e
h
ealing
h
e sta
nds
u
p, b
arely ab
le t
o
w
ait a
m
inute
longer.

'
Is th
at i
t th
en?'
h
e
ask
s
bru
squely.

'
For t
oday, yes
. Althou
gh yo
u
ca
n d
o yo
ur bit
an
d pr
ay,
Mr Th
omas,'
Bill
y w
inks
a
t th
e
m
an
.
T
he l
ady g
ives
a fi
rm
ass
urance th
at
th
ey
w
ill
p
ray
.

'Th
at's yo
ur j
ob,
Mr Ev
ans
.
I
sn't
th
at w
hat
we
're p
aying yo
u f
or?'
Mr Thoma
s s
ays
.
H
e
r
eaches
int
o
h
is
p
ocket. '
How mu
ch
d
o we owe yo
u?'

'
You d
on't owe
me
a
nything,' B
illy says
,
wi
thout
a
ny h
int o
f
of
fending
o
r b
eing o
ffended.

'H
ere.
T
ake
this,' th
e
m
an says,
h
olding o
ut
a
n
ote
.

'
That's kind
,
Mr Thom
as,
but I
ca
n't
acc
ept m
oney.
Th
ank yo
u th
ough.'

E
ven so,
th
e
m
an
pu
ts
th
e
m
oney on t
he
coffee
t
able a
nd
we
ighs it d
own w
ith
a
br
ass
b
ell
th
at
t
inkles as
h
e
pl
aces it
t
here.

.
'
Take
i
t,' th
e
man
s
ays
a
nd he
w
alks
away
n
ot w
ishing
to discuss
it
furth
er.

Bill
y as
ks th
e yo
ung
m
an
h
ow
h
e
i
s feel
ing
.

'I
definitely felt something. I feel that I've got more c
ner
gy.
He is
pal
e a
nd
o
bviously t
oo
h
ollow
in th
e c
heek
an
d
hi
s e
yes
a
re blo
odshot.
'Do you think
I'll be all r
ight?'
he
as
ks.

'Y
ou'll
n
eed
t
o co
me
ag
ain. A couple of time
s.
And if
y
ou w
ant
t
o
pr
ay
t
oo, yo
u
ca
n. I t
ell e
veryone who comes h
ere
th
at
th
ey ca
n d
o i
t.
Yo
u
ca
n
ge
t
yo
ur M
am a
nd Dad to lay h
ands o
n
yo
u
a
nd pr
ay.'
Bill
y
t
winkles w
hen h
e say
s th
is.
Mr Th
omas
m
akes a s
harp int
ake o
f bre
ath
.

'
Thank
yo
u, Mr E
vans
.
W
e
mu
st
b
e o
ff,' h
e s
ays
.
Taliesin dr
aws
b
ack
fr
om
th
e
d
oor a
nd
was
hes up hi
s c
up while Billy
s
hows th
e fa
mily t
o
th
e
d
oor.
H
e co
mes b
ack
sh
aking
his h
ead i
n di
smay.

'
I t
hink
hi
s
f
ather
th
ought
I
was so
me kind
o
f
w
izard.'
He wa
lks
s
lowly
a
nd
co
ughs
aga
in.
'
So h
ow
is m
y
apprentice? H
ave yo
u d
one a
ny pr
aying?'

Ta
liesin h
as
tr
ied a
nd
s
truggled. Hi
s
w
ords,
h
e
felt
,
we
re s
hot
o
ut int
o
an
e
mpty, unh
eard vo
id
a
nd
ec
hoed back to him unh
eeded. '
It
wa
s h
ard,'
h
e says.

'
I kn
ow
it's diffi
cult
t
o
p
ray.
Th
ere a
re t
imes
wh
en
I shake m
y
h
ead a
nd
see
onl
y ai
r. Y
ou
h
ave
t
o
tru
st; yo
u have to s
tep
int
o i
t
wi
th
yo
ur
e
yes
o
pen. It t
akes
pr
a
ctic
e
-lik
e
pi
ano.
T
he
m
ore yo
u d
o
it th
e swee
ter th
e so
und. D
on't
force it, it's n
atural, we
've ju
st
f
orgotten
h
ow,
th
at's a
ll. Ju
st
talk as you w
ould
to
a f
riend. Y
ou
don
't
h
ave
t
o
th
ee a
nd thou your
wa
y t
o
H
im.
Pr
ay w
hen
y
ou
wa
nt
to
.
It mi
ght be a
Monday, first thin
g
in th
e mo
rning cl
eaning yo
ur t
eeth.
A
sk
Him to bl
ess yo
ur f
ood,
th
e wea
ther,
yo
ur
fa
mily. Th
ere's
nothing
He
d
oesn't
kn
ow, s
o t
ell
Him
w
hat's tr
oubling
you
.'

'
I tri
ed
to p
ray
in b
ed
th
e o
ther n
ight
but I couldn't
concentrat
e
.
I
ca
n't
see
H
im.
Wh
at
d
oes
H
e
l
ook
like?'

Bill
y
gi
ves a
dry
chuckl
e
that m
akes
hi
s s
houlders hunch
a
nd ji
g.
'Th
at
w
ould
b
e so
mething, if
y
ou
c
ould picture God in your h
ead.
S
ome
head
.
Y
ou ge
t
g
limpses, mind. In thunder. In l
ight.
I
see
Him
i
n th
e faces of
p
eople
looking for
so
mething.
Th
ey a
re r
eally
l
ooking
for H
im.
And
He comes to m
e i
n th
e
h
ealing.
Th
at's
w
hen I
see
H
im
clearl
y.'

B
illy s
tarts t
o
p
ack a
p
ipe.
H
e
li
ghts
it
a
nd puf
fs a
nd
th
e s
moke
ga
thers
c
umulously around him
. He
b
ecomes a
m
edic
in
e
m
an conj
uring th
e s
pirits
o
f th
e a
ir
.
T
he
e
thered fo
g scul
pts
wei
rd
images: a
bu
ll
wi
th
wi
ngs,
a
bird
w
ithout,
so
mething
abstrac
t
a
nd
a
morphou
s,
a face
-th
e face o
f
a
m
an w
ith
a
b
eard
.
A s
udden h
ollow
dr
y co
ugh m
akes
him
w
ithdr
aw
th
e
pip
e a
nd
cl
utch h
is
r
ibs
.

T
aliesin
l
ooks
dow
n
at
hi
s
g
loved h
ands a
nd
pull
s a
l
ose s
trand
of woo
l.
'
What h
ave yo
u
go
t th
ere?' B
illy
as
ks,
st
ill
co
ughing. T
aliesin
p
eels
t
he
g
loves
off
a
nd h
olds o
ut hi
s
h
ands.
With
out
h
esitation B
illy
t
akes
th
e
inf
ected
h
ands
in his
.
Ta
liesin f
eels
as
hamed
at se
tting
s
uch
a
l
owly
p
roblem
b
e
f
ore a
h
ealer w
ho
s
traight
ens
b
acks an
d lift
s
th
e
d
ark f
rom blind
eyes
.
'
Maybe I
s
hould
j
ust
wa
it
for
th
em
t
o go a
nyway, th
ey're
n
ot
v
ery
imp
ortant
,
'
h
e say
s.
'Eve
ryone's
co
mplaint
is
wo
rse
t
han th
e
n
ext
m
an's
.
W
arts
ar
e wa
rts.
God
i
s
a mover of
wa
rts
a
nd m
ountains
a
like.' N
ow
th
at
B
illy
i
s
pr
epared
t
o
pr
ay
f
or
th
em
th
e wa
rts
a
ppear to
g
row
a
nd b
ecome
a
ll th
e
m
ore
imm
ovable. '
Anyway,
the
se wi
ll n
eed
t
o be
fi
xed
be
fore yo
u put
yo
ur fin
gers o
n m
y
pi
ano.
If I
ge
t
wa
rts I
wo
n't b
e a
ble t
o
t
ouch a
nyone. I'd be
out of a j
ob
.
'
B
illy
s
miles
h
is
irrev
erent s
mile t
hat a
lways
s
urprises
.
'D
o yo
u
wa
nt th
em
t
o
b
e
h
ealed?'
Taliesin n
ods
.
'Do you h
ave a seco
nd
n
am
e
?'
'No.'
Hi
s fa
ther
a
lways
said
th
at
T
aliesin
was e
nough
o
n
i
ts own
. '
It's
goo
d t
o know
th
e
p
erson's
n
ame,
see
,
' Bill
y
says.
'Ther
e
i
s
p
ower i
n
a
n
ame.'
Bill
y
t
akes T
aliesin's
h
ands a
t th
e
w
rists
a
nd cl
oses
hi
s eyes
. T
alie
sin
k
eeps
hi
s eyes o
pen
a
nd f
ocused
ri
ght
th
ere o
n hi
s
hand
s, wa
tching
hi
s
w
arts,
h
alf
e
xpecting
th
em
t
o s
pontaneously
remit
o
r
s
hrivel
up und
er
the
po
wer.
D
oes
h
e
f
eel so
mething –
a
t
ingle, a
buzz
?
I
s
th
ere
a s
upernatural h
eat
fl
owing, o
r i
s
th
at
th
e
pul
sing of
B
illy's hea
t-generating
h
ands?