Free The Testimony of Taliesin Jones by Rhidian Brook Page B

oticed w hen the y w ere s till; o ld
h and s wi th a v ivid "low' l arge
ve ined, oc tave s tretching hand s wi th
fin gers t hat mi ght occa sionally str ike t wo not es in stead o f o ne : pr a ying, pl aying, l aying hand s.
    T aliesin s tares blankly at th e mu sic. Th e ga ps a re n ot f ormally i ndicated o n the sco re; th ere a re n o c urling G's o r extra s paces t o g uide him.
    ' I d on't kn ow wh at y ou m ean- ab out th e ga ps, ' h e says.
    ' They're th e se cret t o it. N ot ju st mu sic. But eve rything el se: t alking, l aughing, bre athing . It 's lik e a t ime in b etween s omething, w hen n othing h appens a nd w hen yo u're n ot l ooking b ack o r for ward. The ga ps mak e th e thin gs a round th em, e ither s ide, stand out.' Billy p auses
a nd ca tches h is br eath b efore go ing o n. ' So if! pl ay a n ote lik e thi s . . . a nd I lift lip m y fin ger . . ' .a nd th en pl ay it agai n . . . yo u ca n h ear th at the ga p i s m ore i mportant th an th e n ote . Wi thout th e ga p the n otes a re ju st n otes. Tr y it ag ain . '
    A s Talie sin p lays h e can f eel the wart a t th e e nd o f h is ind ex fin ger . It h as g rown to the s ize of a p ea in a m atter o f d ay sa nd it hurt s when he applies pre ssure to th e k ey.
    'Have
a sip of yo ur tea, ' Bill y sa ys. 'I think w e ca n l eave " The Dan cing B ear". Y ou kn ow it w ell enou gh. Y ou n eed a n ew p iece t o s tir up yo ur e nthusiasm .'
    B illy t urns t he p age on t he sta nd a nd a n ew pi ece sits th ere, u ntried, u nheard, li ke some co mplex e quation. It 's ca lled 'B ugles!' and Ta liesin ca n o nly g uess a t it s tun e. H e sees that th e n otes ri se a nd fa ll but h e c annot b e s ure of w hat th ey in dicate. H e sim ply ca n't und erstand th is l anguage o f black d ots. I f o nly staffs, se mibr eves, cl efs, b ars a nd c rotchets w ere l ike wo rds i n a b ook, th en h e'd pl ay th em. If o nly th e n otes m ade so unds th e w ay th at wo rds m ade pi ctures, th en h e'd b e a p layer. H e ca n't wo rk o ut t he firs t n ote so h e places a ho peful finger somew here nea r t he m iddle .
    'That's
a B,' Billy says, ever encouraging. 'One more up . C,
that's it .' The next note is higher up the lines
so it could be an E or an F. He flukes the F. 'Good .' Then he sees that there are notes to play with his left hand a t th e sa me tim e .
    ' I can' t do it,' T aliesin says . H e
is rea dy t o t ell
everyt hing . 'Yes
yo u ca n . Try i t . C, F, a nd wi th th e l eft . '
' I ca n' t.' T here is a si lence. A l ong
ga p. ' I kn ow
t hat yo u fi nd th e no tes h ard. W e ca n go
ove r th em agai n i f yo u l ike,' Bill y says .
    T he pr etence h as t o co me t o a n end soo n .
    A nother l ong a nd sig nificant ga p. Ta liesin l ooks a t th e score an d h angs hi s h ead.
    ' We d on't h ave t o co ntinue i f yo u d on't wa nt to. Y ou ca n't f orce i t,' B illy says. H e co ughs again a nd put s hi s h and to hi s m outh.
    'My
mother was hoping I'd be able to play her a carol by Christmas,' Taliesin says.
'I'm going to see her then.' 'It's you that matters,' Billy says. 'You've got
to want to d o it fo r yo urself firs t.
It d oesn't ma tter w hether yo ur mo ther o r your fa ther ex pect to yo u .’
    Ta liesin wan ts t o s ay h e’ d li ke t o k eep tr ying . In stead h e m anages so mething n earer th e truth . ' I l ike com ing h ere for lesso ns . '
    B illy see ms h appy a t thi s. ' Well, th at is a goo d r eason to m e. Bu t yo ur p arents pay m e t o t each yo u. W e'll hav e to c rack th ese n otes - go b ack t o th e b eginning. '
    T aliesin fi nds a foc us, som ething t o s tare at h ard t o make t he prob lem go away . On top of t he p iano h e n otices a ph otograph of a m an wea ring a ru gby j ersey a nd a c uriously ill- fitting
ca p o n h is h ead. Th e c hildish ca p i s in congruous o n thi s Grow n-Up . Th e pla yer h as no n eck and h is sm ile r eveals o nly t hree t eeth. Th e phot ograph is s igned.
    '