The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (78 page)

'What
a
re yo
u d
oing?'
H
oop as
ks.

'
I th
ink
h
e
i
s
d
ead,'
T
aliesin says
.

B
illy'
s
h
ands a
re r
esting
on th
e
p
oise-improving
H
oly
Bibl
e t
hat h
e
u
sed
for b
alancing
on T
aliesin' s
h
ead. Ta
liesin li
fts
th
e o
ther cold h
and a
nd
o
pens th
e
b
ook.
A
s
mell
of
l
eather mi
ngles with th
e s
mell
of
d
eath
.
H
e
r
eads t
he
fi
rst l
ine, w
hich
every
Bel
iever
h
ad
t
o
kn
ow
b
y
h
eart.
Th
e wor
d
ing
i
s
diffe
rent
-
th
is
i
s a very o
ld
e
dition
-
bu
t
th
e gis
t
is t
he
sa
me.
Ta
liesin close
s
th
e
b
ook a
nd r
eplaces
it b
eneath
th
e
h
ands.

H
e can
'
t
q
uite
co
nnect th
is
b
ody
w
ith Bill
y.
Wh
ere
i
s
th
e
warmt
h th
at
fl
owed
thr
ough
th
ese
h
ands?
Wh
ere
i
s t
he
s
park th
at
l
it
u
p t
he
ey
es? It i
s
Billy
's
b
ody
but Bill
y
is
n
o
l
onger
in
it
. T
he
ess
ence of Billy isn't
here
.
Ther
e
are four bod
ies
in thi
s
r
oom
but only three
people.

'
How did he di
e?'
Luc asks
.

'
He w
as
ill
,'
Taliesin says.

Taliesin
pictures x-rays and sees Billy coughing. Perhaps with so much energy going out
of his body he had none in reserve,
n
o resis
tance a
gainst
illn
ess.
But he
s
enses th
at
Bill
y's
s
pirit
is s
lipping
away a
nd i
s,
ev
en
no
w,
mo
ving
un
seen
and thr
ough
n
othing
th
at ca
n touch it
.
How far h
as
it tr
avelled
th
at s
pirit? H
as
it r
eached i
ts de
stination ye
t, or c
an i
t b
e a
rrested in tr
ansit
b
efore
it take
s
up perm
anent
r
esidence elsew
here? If th
ey ac
t
q
uickly
e
nough
c
ouldn't the
y
brin
g
it b
ack a
nd brin
g
Bill
y
b
ack
to lif
e?
Th
e
po
wer o
f l
ife
i
s
in th
at
s
p
iri
t
.
L
azarus
sl
ept
f
or
four d
ays
b
efore
J
esus
brou
ght
him b
ack
fr
om
b
eyond
th
e
s
weet-smelling
sta
ge.
Th
ere
m
ay s
till b
e
t
ime a
nd th
ere
i
s a
m
an
who
s
hould know f
or s
ure
.

T
he F
ox's
h
ole isn'
t
fa
r. In his
cas
ual clothe
s
th
e
pr
eacher
n
o
l
onger
l
ooks
l
ike a
pr
eacher.
He i
s
flust
ered
at thi
s
une
xpected ca
ll
a
nd r
eady to
turn th
em aw
ay,
as
i
f
t
h
ey we
re
co
llecting
fo
r
G
uy F
awkes o
r
so
me
fa
ke c
ause.
But
i
t i
sn't
No
vember.

T
h
en
h
e recog
nizes T
aliesin.

'
Ah
, i
t's
sa
lt, i
sn't
i
t.'

T
alie
s
in is s
till thinkin
g o
f
th
at
spirit slipping
a
way at th
e s
peed
of s
pirits
.
Th
e ex
pedient o
f s
aving
a
life helps him cut
thr
ough
t
he
prot
ocol a
nd
ge
t t
o
th
e
p
oint.

'
You mu
st
c
ome
qui
ckly.
Billy
E
vans
is dead
.
We
ju
st fo
und h
im.
I
d
on't
think h
e's
be
en
dead for four day
s.'

T
he pr
eacher g
ives th
e
qu
eerest
look. Th
is
is too odd to be
a
li
e.

'Wh
at?
Wh
ere
i
s
h
e?'

'
In his b
edroom
,
S
ir.'

'
Let m
e
f
etch
m
y coat
.
W
ait
ther
e.'

The
preacher is a Grown-Up who has difficulty communicating with children. He keeps
a physical and verbal distance
fro
m th
e
th
ree
boys
a
s they walk to the bungalow
,
takin
g
l
ong
l
oping s
trides
and sp
eaking
long looping
w
ords. H
~
says
th
at
h
e
i
sn't
fully
prepared to trust their report unt
il
h
e's see
n th
e
bod
y a
nd
e
stablished
th
e
authenticit
y
o
f
th
eir
story.
At th
e
h
ouse
h
e
ask
s
th
em
to show him th
e
bod
y,
t
elling
th
em
t
o wa
it
o
utside th
e
b
edroom.
He then mak
es a c
all to th
e
h
ospital a
nd t
alks
in
so
mbre tones about a man b
eing
dead
a
nd n
eeding a
d
octor
t
o
d
o
a p
ostmortem.
'
Y
o
u b
oys
h
ad
b
etter
w
ait
f
or
the doctor. She ma
y
n
eed
to
as
k
yo
u
so
me qu
estions a
bout what t
ime
you found him
.
B
illy
E
vans
is d
ead,
'
h
e says,
in a
s
uperior ton
e,
as
i
f di
scoveri
ng thi
s
truth f
or
th
e
fir
st
time
.
'
But
w
hat
a
bout tr
ying
t
o
r
esurrect
him?'
Taliesin persists. P
reece
hum
s a s
igh
a
nd wa
ves
a dismis
sive
arm at thi
s.
H
e'd
lik
e
t
o ge
t r
id o
f this
sa
lty boy. 'We can't do that. If
yo
u'd f
ound
him
ea
rlier
we
m
ight
ha
ve
been able to re
susci
t
ate
h
im
.
I'm n
ot
in th
e
bu
siness
of resurrections. I am not J
esus.' '
But L
azarus was
d
ead
f
or
four days when
Jesus found him
,'
T
aliesin
pl
eads
.
'
If
we
d
on't
try it
'll
be too late.' He can
see
th
e s
pirit
a
rriving
a
t it
s
final d
estination,
unable to return
.
T
aliesin wis
hes he
'd
tried to r
esurrect
Billy himself, without th
e
pr
eacher's
a
id. P
reece
co
ntinues to
s
mile
a
nd p
atronize
.
'Go
d
c
hose to l
et
L
azarus
live -that was his decision. H
e
did it
so
th
at o
thers mi
ght see
his power and
believe in it
.
He didn
't go a
round r
esurrecting ev
ery Tom
,
Dick and Harry. B
esides,
B
illy Ev
ans
was
an
o
ld man
.
He's lived his three s
c
ore
a
nd t
en
.
Y
ou
mu
st ac
cept that now
.'