The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (48 page)

M
aybe
J
onathan
i
s a
Ph
arisee.
M
aybe
hi
s
f
ather
i
s,
to
o.
T
aliesin
w
onders
wh
ether
th
e
pr
eacher
w
ould
b
elieve
him if h
e
t
old
him
a
bout h
is wa
rts
.

D
uring th
e an
nouncements
Ta
liesin b
ecomes
awa
re
o
f th
e
tim
e a
nd h
is
ow
n
mea
ndering m
ind.
Th
ere
i
s
n
o
cl
ock
in th
e c
hapel,
t
ime
is
m
e
asur
ed
b
y
t
he
h
ymn
numb
er
r
ack.
Th
ey've s
ung
two of
th
em a
nd
t
here's
a
nother
o
ne t
o co
me s
o
th
e
y
mu
st
b
e nea
r th
e e
nd
.
H
e
look
s a
t his
h
ands aga
in
a
nd
w
onders
if th
e
w
arts w
ill
co
me
ba
ck
.
H
e
i
sn't s
ure n
ow
.
P
erhaps i
t
co
uld
b
e c
oincidence like J
on
s
aid
it w
as.
P
erhaps
it sh
o
uld b
e
in th
e
m
ind.
Wh
y
d
idn't Go
d d
o
i
t w
hen h
e w
as lo
oking? T
his pl
ace
fill
s
h
im wi
t
h doubt. The
u
nfor
g
iving
p
ew
i
s g
rowing h
arder o
n hi
s
b
ehind an
d
a
numbn
ess is
r
eading ac
ross hi
s
l
egs.

Wh
en
th
e
di
smissal c
omes h
e is t
he
fir
st
t
o
th
e
d
oor w
here th
e
pr
eacher wa
its
to s
hake h
ands. Ta
lie
si
n'
s
d
esire to s
how him Bill
y'
s
h
andiwork
h
as
dimini
sh
e
d. So
me how h
e feels
th
at
th
e
pr
eacher w
on't appr
ove, or wo
rse, th
at
h
e
mi
ght
n
ot wa
nt
to
kn
ow
.
'So,
did
y
o
u
wo
rk
o
ut
w
hat
i
ngredient
yo
u
we
re
i
n th
e ca
ke?
'
th
e
pr
eacher asks
h
im.

'So
mething
s
mall
,
lik
e sa
lt,'
Ta
li
esi
n
sa
ys.

'
Ah, but
sa
lt i
s ve
r
y
s
ignificant. Sm
all
but
very s
ignificant. T
ell
m
e, w
hat br
ought yo
u to
c
hapel?'

'I th
ought
Bill
y
E
vans was goi
ng t
o
b
e
h
er
e,'
T
aliesin says
.

Th
e
pr
eacher sc
ratches
a
b
eard
th
at he
h
asn't go
t
.
'
Mr
E
vans h
asn't co
me f
or a
lon
g t
ime. H
e a
lway
s s
ee
ms t
o
b
e
t
oo
bu
sy o
n
S
undays
.
'
The pre
acher
un
settles
h
im wi
th th
e coo
l
a
nd
j
udgemental
way
he sa
ys
B
illy's
n
ame
.
H
e
k
eep
s
l
ooking o
ver
a
t th
e o
ther p
eople
w
aiting
t
o say
h
ello
t
o
h
im.

'
So
Mr Ev
ans
i
s a
friend
o
f
yo
urs?' th
e
pr
eacher asks,
impl
ying t
hat thi
s
i
s
not ent
irely
t
o
h
is
likin
g
.
Th
e
qu
estion
fl
oats
i
n
th
e a
ir un
answered.

'
Will
we see yo
u h
ere
n
ext S
unday?'

T
aliesin says,
'I'm goin
g
t
o
W
est
H
aven. '

'I
see,'
th
e
pr
eacher
sa
ys.
H
is a
ttention
is
t
aken away by a
Blu
e-Rinse. S
he t
akes
his h
and a
nd
con
g
ratulate
s
h
im
o
n th
e se
rmon.

'I'v
e a
lways
see
n myself as butt
er
,
' s
he
says
.

Salt
,
vinega
r, l
emon,
mu
stard.
Wh
atever
h
e
i
s
h
e
i
s
t
oo s
harp
fo
r th
is ca
ke
a
nd not r
eally
w
anted i
n
i
t. H
e ca
n t
aste
th
e
pr
eacher's
di
sapproval, a vag
ue b
itternes
s
of somet
hing.
H
e s
lips
away
unn
oticed
and
o
nce
o
utside
t
he
ga
te b
reak
s
i
nto a run
as i
f h
e
h
imself
wer
e
th
e
f
ox a
nd
t
he pr
eacher a
h
ound
from h
ell.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

IT'S THE SEASON OF MIRA
CLES
and giving and Taliesin has been told that
for him Christm
as
will be a special time because he can expect twice
a
s much. But Christmas
highlights the things he doesn't have rather than the things he is going to get
.
The double payoff
has a price. After a series of phone calls between hi
s
mother and father
talking train times and other details and a raised voice discussion over the
issue of furniture and what to do with it, his father talks pointedly of
Taliesin spending Christmas with his mother and h
er
lover. Jonathan choruses this
disapproval, reminding hi
s
younger brother of the treachery involved
.
Confused and upset,
Taliesin retires to his room where he reads until his father comes to the door
to apologize, which he does some twenty minutes later, saying that he doesn't
mean it and that it isn't Taliesin
's
fault. His father speaks with the clear reasoning that
comes after outbursts of unfairness. He reassures Taliesin that it is right for
him to see his mother and that he is only being selfish because naturally he'd
prefer him to stay. He mutters something about this being a difficult time on
the farm and being tired and he finally leans in and touches Taliesin's cheek
.
Taliesin, who all
this time has been starin
g
at the page
s
of a book which might just as well be upside down
,
looks up and accepts
the apology. As a final offering of peace his father asks him what he'd like
for Christmas.

When
finally Taliesin finds himself on the platform at the station it is a relief to
be in the no-man's-land between parents. Here on the platform the past and the
future are
 
temporarily lost to the immediate, the state
he prefers
.
Th
e novelty
of travel
makes it easier to forget about where h
e
is g
o
ing or where he
's
been and he willingly surrender
s him
self to th
e
thrill of passage.
With luck the push and tug
o
f hi
s
divid
ed
parents will power the train to a st
andstill
s
ome
where halfway
between them.