The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (61 page)

H
e wo
uld h
ave
to be it
s
le
ader.
L
eaders
n
eed
to k
eep a ce
rtain
dis
tance
.
They must embod
y
th
e
b
eliefs
of th
e ga
ng
a
nd n
ot sho
w favour
itism
to an
y
memb
er.
It would b
e
hi
s
j
ob
t
o
p
ersuade o
thers to join
.
But this wouldn't b
e
diffi
cult;
th
e ga
ng w
ould g
row quickly because of th
e
miracl
es
th
ey
p
er
f
ormed.
Th
eir
f
ame
would be noised abro
ad
by word of m
outh
until f
inally
the newspapers would do
a
n art
icle o
n th
em.
Hi
s ow
n brother and
father would pi
ck
up th
eir S
unday p
apers a
nd re
ad
all about them
.

Th
e gang
w
ould
n
eed a
nam
e
-so
import
ant
in th
e
world
o
f
ga
ngs.
Nothin
g
with a numb
er
as part of th
e
nam
e -
th
eir
numb
ers w
ould be changin
g
con
stantly.
It would h
ave
to b
e a
ttractive
e
nough to win over the tou
gher
el
ements
o
f
th
e
pl
ayground.
H
e
thinks of a few and as
sesses
th
eir
relati
ve
m
erits.
The
Ma
gic
Workers? Cra
ss
and off-putting
.
Th
e
H
ealers?
Not
bad, a bit specific
.
The Charmers
?
It would b
e
misunderstood. The Believers? That has
'
an intrigue and a
force about it. Yes, The Believers. It is a news-capturing name
.
A name to conjure
with
.
A
name that would draw his e
ye
if it adorned a book cover.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

TH
E
RESOLUTIONS HE MADE are provin
g
over-ambitious _ and
this is only the second week of Januar
y.
He hasn't yet pra
ctised
a s
ingle scale; he hasn't prayed once f
or
his enemies; and h
e
hasn
't
thanked anyone for
his pr
esents
.
He is
,
howev
er,
about to fulfil his first resolution -to gather his
disciples
a
round
him and begin the work of The Beli
evers.

Tod
ay
will be A.B.
I.

It
i
s
a good day to begin: the snow has cleared
and th
e
skies with it
.
Under the blue canopy the playin
g
field is clearer than an
a
untie's
diamond. The Tall Tree, which is still l
eaf less,
h
as
an old graffito, crudely carved in jagged letters
.
It
s
ays
'
Wo
r
m has
Worts.' It's the handiwork of Hooper, no qu
estion
.
Th
e s
pelling
gives it away. The spelling, and th
e
w
ay
th
e
lett
ers
slant back and forth without discipline. But
it'
s o
ut
o
f
date now; it
's
history. Taliesin would like
the facts to b
e
put
s
traight
and the truth to be remember
ed.
If this tree
is t
o
be
a
n
a
ccurate record of the loves and lives of th
e
school th
en
it
de
serves
a faithful chronicler, someone
prepared to upd
ate a
nd revise the
information. With a respect for the truth
a
nd
a ten pence piece Taliesin starts to scrape a correctiv
e
addit
ion
to the statement. He changes
the ‘s’
of the h
as
to
a ‘
d’.

T
a
liesin is waiting for the right moment. The other
s
are
ga
thered about the tree with him
.
Luc has two jump
ers, g
loves
a
nd a hat on -all
presents
.
John
Mor
gan,
whose
p
arents
might
be divorcing, is reading a book by som
eone
ca
lled Lauri
e
Lee (could be a man or a woman)
.
Apparently
it
's
about
a
boy who wakes up one morning and d
ecides
to walk t
o
Sp
ain.
Tali
esin
ha
s
brou
ght
his
Illustrat
ed
Bibl
e
with him
.
H
e
h
as
d
ecided
that all members
of the gang will h
ave
to
s
wear on thi
s
book
a
nd memorize it
s
first lin
e
-
s
omething that,
as
l
eader,
h
e
mu
st
d
o
fir
st.
'In the b
eginning
G
od
cr
eated
the h
eaven a
nd the
ea
rth,' he r
ecites
to him
self.
Thi
s
bo
ok o
ffers
goo
d
a
dvice for
g
angs
s
tarting out
.
It bristl
es w
ith f
actions -
Phili
stines
,
Phari
sees,
Saddu
cees,
Hittit
es,
I
sraelites:
p
eople
arguing
a
nd killing
e
ach
o
ther. Th
e
k
ey see
ms t
o
li
e
in havin
g
God
o
n
y
our
s
ide. Th
at s
eems vit
al.
Numb
ers
didn
't co
unt for much
without
Go
d's
s
upport.
L
ooking a
t
hi
s
tw
o
fri
ends a
nd the
as
-yet-unconverted
hundr
eds,
thi
s is
r
eassuring.

From
beneath the tree it is possible to see the entire playground and spectate at
all the games being played there: two g
irls
s
kipping t
o '
Underneath
th
e
Ar
ches';
a
huddl
ed g
roup
o
f
s
mokers;
a ga
me
o
f fiv
e-a-side
f
ootball
with
jacket
s
for
go
al p
osts;
H
ooper a
nd his
c
ronies skulkin
g,
hun
gry
for
so
me k
ind of co
nfrontation
.
H
oop
the Ph
ilistine
m
oves a
round th
e g
rounds in hi
s
raim
ent
of irr
egular
gre
y
j
acket, s
lack t
ie a
nd
sc
uffed to
ecaps.
N
o
one h
as s
tood u
p
t
o
him
.
No
o
ne p
erson co
uld
.

'We
s
hould h
ave
our
own
ga
ng,' Taliesin
says
,
w
atching
H
ooper a
nd hi
s e
ntourage
p
atrolling, se
nsing th
at
n
ow
i
s as goo
d
a
tim
e
a
s
an
y
to
a
nnounce
hi
s
intentions.

'A
ce
id
ea.
L
et's
make one,' Luc The Convert
says
.

'
What
s
hall w
e
call it?' John
Morgan
as
ks
.

'I'v
e
thou
ght
of a
n
ame,'
T
aliesin
sa
ys,
feelin
g
his
w
ay
into
.
le
adership.
'But first w
e
n
eed
t
o
have
a
rea
son
.
Th
ere
i
s
no point in h
aving a
ga
ng just f
or
th
e s
ake
o
f it
.
We n
eed
t
o
h
ave ai
ms
.

'Wh
at s
ort
o
f thin
gs?'
Luc
as
ks.

T
aliesin
put
s a
fini
shing
touch to his
c
arving in th
e
b
ark.

'I'd
l
ike a ga
ng th
at
tried to p
erform
miracle
s,
to pro
ve
th
at Go
d
exis
ted.
Onl
y
p
eople
who
believed in God
c
ould j
oin.'