The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (44 page)

In th
e
L
and Rov
er hi
s fa
ther d
oesn't s
tart
t
he
e
ngine
.

'
Look, i
s eve
rything
o
kay
w
ith
yo
u?'

'I'm fin
e
.
'

'
You're b
oth
v
ery
qui
et.
J
on
d
oesn't say anyt
hing th
ese
d
ays.
I
was w
ondering if
yo
u kn
ew w
hat w
as o
n hi
s
m
ind.
M
aybe i
t's hi
s gi
rlfriend
o
r
so
mething. H
as
h
e said a
nything t
o yo
u?'

'N
o.'
J
onathan
has
g
rown m
ore
r
eticent ove
r th
e yea
r
a
nd th
e ca
use i
s
cl
ear, ev
en t
o
T
aliesin
.
It
see
ms
so o
bvious t
o say
th
at
J
on is
up
set a
t their moth
er
l
eaving.
I
s
hi
s
fath
er
pr
etend
in
g
n
ot
t
o
r
ealize
this or is h
e ge
nuinely
so
‘
in
hi
s
h
ead'
th
at
h
e ca
n't
see? Ta
liesin tri
es to o
ffer
so
me
exp
lanation
.

'
He's ju
st
a b
it
down
,
I th
ink
.
'
A
s
h
e says
th
is
T
aliesin wo
nders
w
hy h
e
i
sn't
do
wn
him
self.
P
erhaps
J
onathan
d
oesn't
h
ave a
r
eservoir
in which t
o s
tore th
ese
thin
gs.

Th
ey s
tart to dri
ve.

'
I think h
e
bl
ames
m
e,'
hi
s
f
ather says
. 'I d
on't
kn
ow
wh
y
h
e
bl
ames
me
.
It was
y
our m
other w
ho l
eft,
n
ot
m
e
.
Wh
y
should he be an
gry
with m
e?'
Talie
sin
can't find an an
swer
to thi
s.

Th
e s
treet tw
ists
tow
ards
th
e c
hapel.
Some pe
ople
in black clot t
ogether i
n clump
s a
nd
move up th
e
hill. H
e's
not seen an
y o
f th
ese
p
eople
befor
e, a
lthough hi
s
fath
er
wav
es
to one
or two
o
f th
em.

The
c
hapel i
s
h
igh o
n th
e
hill. If there was
a
flood in Cwm
glum
th
e
p
eople
w
ould
h
ave
to make for thi
s
place; it sit
s
hi
gher
th
an
an
y
bu
ilding a
round. It looks down upon the villa
ge
lik
e a
n
a
dmonishing m
aths
t
eacher,
gre
yly se
vere and
a
ll
a
ngles. It
's
th
e
h
ouse o
f G
od
.
'
Welcome t
o
th
e
Hou
se
of God,' s
ays
th
e
si
gn.
H
e's g
ot other hou
ses, w
hich is ar
e life
to Tali
esin.
Cwm
glum c
hapel
wo
uldn' t b
e
his first choice of
r
esidence.

H
is fa
ther pull
s
up
a
nd l
ooks as
th
ough
he want
s
to
come in
.

'Sa
y a
pr
ayer
for m
e wo
n't
y
ou?' h
e say
s.

'
All ri
ght,'
T
aliesin says
.
H
is
fath
er
i
s
h
aving a
n
a
rgument in hi
s
h
ead
-h
is
m
outh
i
s
m
oving
.
'
You okay t
o
w
alk
h
ome?'

'Y
eah.'

'
See
y
ou l
ater t
hen.'

'
Yeah.'

'Y
ou s
ure
yo
u
wa
nt t
o go?'
Hi
s
father is actin
g a
s
though h
e
i
s
losin
g
hi
s so
n to
so
mething.

'I'm sure
,
D
a.'
Tali
esin
kis
ses
his father and get
s
out. He w
alks
furtively toward
s
th
e
old people gatherin
g
outside the house of God
.
The
y're
filing in one by one past the preacher who nods and r
eciprocates
th
e
hello
s.
Taliesin looks for
Billy in th
e
qu
eue;
h
e
can
't
w
ait
to sho
w
him his hand
s.

The
pr
eacher
nods
a
nd
c
hats to p
eople.
Taliesin ha
sn't s
een a pre
acher
clos
e
up.
He im
agined
a preach
er
to be tall and
g
rey, fat nosed with
sad
e
yes full of love, and wise of course.
Thi
s
pr
eacher
i
s
r
ed,
hi
s
fac
e
slants
to a pointed chin and his
i
ce-blue a
nd twitch
y.
Hi
s
r
ed
h
air
i
s
t
oo
thi
ck
f
or
hi
s ages
and it i
s s
wept back behind
ea
rs which
scoo
p th
e a
ir. Th
e preacher squ
eezes T
aliesin a
nd
s
miles
a s
mile th
at
r
egisters o
n
eve
ry f
eature
but th
e
e
yes
.
H
e
lick
s
hi
s
lip
s
and put
s o
ut p
a
w T
aliesin
lift
s
up an un
gloved,
unbl
emished
h
and a
nd shak
es
it.
T
he pr
eacher
squ
eezes
Taliesin
's
h
and
f
or seco
nds and
Ta
liesin
wo
nders if in holdin
g
it
s
o firm h
e
i
s
d
etecting s
omething, m
aybe
the fin
gerprints
of God. Bein
g i
n
s
uch clo
se co
ntact
w
ith G
od
prea
chers
mu
st
b
e a
ble to di
scern
th
ese
thin
gs.
Th
ey
mu
st
be equipped with a vari
ety
of s
ubtle
g
ifts f
or
d
etecting
the di
vine.
When he
s
peaks th
e
pr
eacher
i
s
di
sappointingly
pr
osaic
in hi
s co
nversation,
c
ontrolling
i
t
j
ust
a
s
o
ther
G
rown-Ups do
.

'
How l
ovely
t
o see a y
oung
o
ne her
e.
Wh
at
i
s yo
ur n
ame?'
he a
sks
.