The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (38 page)

T
aliesin's
h
ands a
re clen
ched
t
ogether,
h
olding t
he t
ruth
.

'
There
a
re m
any
thin
gs
th
at we ca
n't
ex
plain,
'
Mr D
aniel sa
ys. 'I'm n
ot o
ne to belie
ve
in h
ealers a
nd
w
hat
have yo
u, but th
ey see
m t
o
work for
so
me pe
ople.
I
f i
t
wo
rks f
or so
me pe
ople
th
en
I
ca
n't
s
ee th
e
harm
.'

'Y
eah,
but Dad this he
aler
h
as
h
ealed
lot
s
o
f
p
eople
.
T
ell
them Tal
,
t
ell
th
em
about th
e
woman
w
ith th
e bac
k,
a
nd th
at
m
an
with the nerv
es, a
nd
a
ll th
ose o
ther thin
gs
h
e's
don
e
…
the blind wom
an
.
T
ell
th
em.'
Lu
c
l
ooks
t
o
T
aliesin
f
or
some moral
s
upport
.
T
aliesin ca
n
see
th
at
Lu
c
want
s
hi
s
par
ents
to believe
a
nd he r
ealizes
th
at
hi
s
own
c
redibility b
efore
th
em
is a sm
all
pric
e
to pa
y
f
or
t
elling
th
e
truth
,
h
owever
childi
shly
irk
some
it mu
st so
und
to se
nsible
a
dult
ea
rs.
'
Tell th
em,
T
al.'

'
He d
oesn't
h
ave
to if h
e
d
oesn't wa
nt t
o
,'
Mr
s
D
aniel says
.

'I d
on't
mind,' T
aliesin says
.
'
I h
ave
pi
ano
l
essons wi
th
a
m
an
in m
y v
illage
.
He h
eals
p
eople.
H
e's
h
e
al
ed
l
ots o
f peopl
e
.
'

'I
s
thi
s
m
an a
doctor?
'
Mr D
aniel
a
s
ks
.

'
No
.
H
e
u
sed
to b
e
a ro
ofer.
And h
e
t
each
e
s pian
o
so
me
t
imes.'

'
How nic
e,'
Mr
s
D
aniel says
.
'
I
w
ish
L
uc
w
ould
s
how
so
me int
erest
in mu
sic. '

'
Are
yo
u
s
ure h
e's
n
ot o
ne
o
f th
ese c
harlatans m
aking a
bit
o
f m
oney o
ut of innoc
ents?'

'
What's
a c
harlatan,
D
ad
?
'

'Som
eone
who i
s
a quack
.
Fooling people
.
You say he h
eals -
how doe
s
h
e
do that?' Mr Daniel asks
.

'H
e
put
s
hi
s
hands on peopl
e
and says a
pray
e
r
,
' Taliesin
says.

Th
ere
i
s a
lon
g
cutler
y-chinking
silence b
efore
Lu
c
speaks.

'
What d
o yo
u think
o
f that, Mum? Don
't y
ou think it's lu
sh?'
Lu
c
r
eally
w
ants
his parental
s
eal on this and T
aliesin
love
s
him for th
at.
H
e
is glad th
at
he ha
s
told Luc
a
bout Billy.

Th
e
kniv
es a
nd f
orks,
the fin
ished
mea
l
,
th
e
gravy
s
tained pl
ates,
th
e
cl
ocks
ti
cking a
ll w
ait
for
a
n answ
er.
In the unbeli
eving s
ilence T
aliesin sees
hi
s
pe
arls s
inking int
o
th
e
mirky pond, l
osing
th
eir
lustr
e
and value
.

'I think y
ou
bo
ys
h
ave
l
ivel
y
imagin
ations.
Now
,
w
ho
w
ant s
i
ce c
ream?' Mrs Daniel
says.

E
xcused
from the table the boy
s
r
eturn
to the bedroom and r
esume
th
e
W
illiam
T
ell g
ame. Hav
ing
f
ailed
to g
et
answers from Lu
c's
p
arents
the
y
pl
ay
for an
swers,
c
alling
upon God to
s
how
t
hem th
e
truth thr
ough
the trajector
y
of the arrow. Lu
c s
uggests this
a
nd
a
lthough Taliesin feels uncomfortable at h
aving
thin
gs s
o whim
sically
decide
d,
he can
't
think of a b
etter
w
ay.
Th
ey
n
eed a
sign to augm
ent
things
, s
omething to
e
ncourage th
em
.

T
aliesin s
tands in the corner with the appl
e
on hi
s
head. Th
e
fir
st
shot is to
determine whether o
r
not the
wa
rts will be h
ealed
by G
od
or whether they will go of their own
a
ccord, natur
ally.
If the arrow
hits the apple then God will do it
.

'C
an't
w
e
mak
e
it the other way ro
und,
so th
at
if you mi
ss
th
en
th
ey
w
on't
b
e
h
ealed
naturally?'
Taliesin a
sks.
Hi
s
fait
h
in God
's
a
bility to dir
ect
th
e
arrow, or to want t
o
direct the arrow
, is
w
avering.

'
That would mak
e
it too easy for
God', Luc point
s
out,
a
ccurately.

'Hold
s
teady
.
. .
'
Th
e a
rrow
s
macks into T
a
li
esin's
lip.

'
Hey,
y
ou
we
re talking when you fired
.
Make it th
e
best of thr
ee,'
T
aliesin
s
ays.

'Okay
.'
The second arrow hits Tali
esin
in th
e
f
orehead.
M Tell n
ever
had this man
y
opportuniti
es
to
ge
t it ri
ght.

‘So
if it do
esn't
hit n
ow
it w
asn't Go
d?' T
aliesin as
ks. H
e
pra
ys as
th
e
third
arrow i
s
l
oaded.
Pl
ease
G
od,
d
on't
di
sap
p
oint
m
e,
I'm ne
eding a
nswers th
at on
ly
yo
u c
a
n
g
ive. Th
e a
rrow flies abov
e
him
a
nd
as
hi
s eyes and
h
e
f
eels
th
e
a pie
tumble from his round
ed
h
ead o
nto th
e s
oft
c
arpet
.