The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (37 page)

'Try
a
nd
s
hoot
it off,' Taliesin says
.
'You mustn't hit me
though. ' 'Ea
sy,'
Luc
sa
ys, loading the arrow
.
He fires and it flies past
Taliesin'
s
left eye and clatter
s
int
o
th
e
w
ardrobe.
Th
e s
econd hits him in
the shoulder. Tali
esin s
teadies th
e a
pple and t
ells
Lu
c
to imagine that thes
e
arrow
s
ar
e
r
eal a
nd th
at
h
e
an 't hit
a
ny part of the body that mi
ght
kill.

'Ju
st
imagine that I am your
s
on
a
nd that
o
ne
s
hot
w
ill
kill me,' he
sa
ys.

Th
e
third arrow just misses th
e a
pple, liftin
g s
ome
of Taliesin'
s
hair with a rush. Taliesin tri
es
t
o
l
ook s
traight
a
t
the su
cker
head of the arrow
a
nd n
ot
cl
ose
hi
s eyes
.
H
e
know
s
it'
s
a
harmless cartoon arrow but h
e
tri
e
s
t
o see
it a
s a
st
eel-tipped
ebony shaft
.
'Ye
s!'
Luc's fourth arrow hits the
appl
e a
nd
i
t
r
olls
down Taliesin'
s
back and onto the carpet
.
'
Okay
,
m
y
turn
,'
Luc
says,
ea
ger to have his go as vi
ctim.

'Thi
s
is
a
ce. One
slip and I'm d
ead,
r
emember.'

T
aliesin
tries to imagine that the end
o
f th
e a
rrow h
as a
sharpened point and that one slip
o
f tr
ajectory a
nd
Lu
c
Th
e
Shirt
will be dead. His first arrow flie
s
inn
ocuously
a f
oot
above
the apple
.
His second is still t
oo
hi
gh
.
Lu
c
cl
oses
hi
s
eyes a
s
th
e
third
smacks him on th
e
n
ose
.

 
'Ow, you
bugger. You killed m
e
.'

'Sorry
.
'

They
h
ear
a door closing downst
airs
.
The
fourth misses by a foot
a
nd drift
s
into th
e c
urtain
.

'That's
my Dad,' Luc says, th
e a
pple f
alling as
h
e s
peaks.
'Let'
s
go and meet him.'

Their
g
ame
world has been invad
ed a
nd th
ey
switch
back
to
real life. Luc tumbles on ah
ead
while Talie
sin
checks
himself on the staircase. He looks
a
t his
hand
s
to
s
ee
if ther
e
has been any change there
.
Still nothing. Through th
e
banisters
he can see that
Mr and Mrs Daniel are kis
sing.
Luc
joins
them, unbothered by their pa
ssion
.
He
s
tarts pulling hi
s
f
ather
's
ja
cket.
His father brings a h
and
down on Luc
'
s
head and pulls him into the family embrace.
Until now Tali
esin
had f
elt
little envy towards anything in the house,
confid
ent
that
th
ere
wa
s
n
othing
Lu
c Da
niel h
ad
that h
e
wanted for him
self.
H
e ca
n't r
emember
h
is
p
arents
kis
sing a g
reat d
eal a
part fr
om
th
at
k
iss i
n t
he fa
ded,
fa
ntasy
se
pia
o
f th
e we
dd in~
a
lbum.

Mr D
aniel
i
s s
horter th
an
Mr
s
D
aniel
b
y a
bout
a
n in
ch;
he h
as s
mall f
eet,
t
oo
.
Mr
s
D
aniel
to
wers ove
r h
er
hu
sband
wh
en s
he ki
sses
h
im.
Aft
er
h
is
t
actile
r
eception
Mr Dani
el
tak
es
hi
s coa
t
o
ff
a
nd
s
hakes T
aliesin's g
loved h
and.

'
It mu
st
b
e co
ld
i
n h
ere
.
I
s
th
e
h
eating o
n, D
arling?'
he
as
ks.
'
Yes. '

H
e
t
akes o
ff hi
s jac
ket
a
nd T
aliesin
l
ooks to se
e i
f
hi
s s
hirt i
s
h
anging
out. It i
sn't.
M
aybe
h
e
u
sed
t
o
l
et
hi
s s
hirt han
g
out wh
en
h
e
w
as
a bo
y
.

In th
e s
ilent
sec
onds b
efore t
hey
ea
t T
aliesin says
a
g
race to h
imself
,
h
oping
th
at no one
n
otices
him dip hi
s
he
ad s
lightly to
s
ay hi
s
pr
ayer.

'
You liv
e o
n
a far
m?
'
Mr D
aniel s
ays.

'
Yes.'

'
I h
ave p
lenty
of
d
ealings w
ith
fa
rms: d
airy fa
rms. Y
ours
is sh
eep
i
sn't
it?
'
Mr D
aniel
r
attles o
ff
a
lit
any
of clo
sed
qu
es
tion
s
f
or w
hich
yes a
nd
s
ometimes no c
an
b
e
the
o
nly an
swer. So
me
G
rown-Ups n
ever
m
ake
it
easy
f
or
him to r
eally ge
t
go
ing in
a c
onversation
.

'
Tal d
oesn't wan
t to t
alk
about that
,
Dad
,'
Lu
c
sa
ys.
In
the
s
afety
o
f hi
s
o
wn
hom
e
Lu
c
h
as
a cocky
a
nd pl
ayful
confid
ence
th
at a
t
sc
hool n
ever
quit
e
comes out. H
e
eat
s
with hi
s
mouth op
en,
put
s
h
is
elbow
s
on th
e
t
able,
and do
esn't
re
ally
list
en
or
see
m t
o ca
re
a
bout hi
s
fath
er's
con
versation.

'
He to
ok
hi
s
w
arts
t
o a
h
ealer,
D
ad
.
He
s
aid th
ey'd
go
in two d
ays.'
'I'm
s
ure
th
at
T
aliesin
do
esn't
want
y
ou
t
alking
about that at th
e
t
able,'
Mr
s
D
aniel says
,
i
mposing her o
wn
f
eelings. '
He do
esn't
mind
.
I onl
y w
anted
to know wh
at
Dad thinks about it.'

Mr
D
aniel see
ms to be
c
alculating
th
e s
ituation,
s
miling
s
lightly a
t
h
is so
n's candour. T
aliesin
h
as see
n th
at
s
mile
bef
o
r
e
.
It
's
th
e
d
oubting a
nd ult
imately
p
atronizing
s
mil
e of
 
h
e G
rown-Up; th
e s
mile
th
at
think
s
it
kn
ows
th
e a
nswer
a
nd nee
ds to p
ut
th
e
child
s
traight
o
n
so
mething.
It
's
n
ot
quit
e
th
e
di
sdainful s
mirk
of a cy
nical
b
rother
or th
e
hum
ouring,
too
-busy-to-stop
s
mile of hi
s fa
ther. It i
s
m
ore
th
e s
mile
of a
n
a
dult wh
o's g
ot
us
ed
to
ge
ntly
g
rounding fl
ights
o
f c
hildish
fant
asy.