Chapter 40 #2
Her father’s health was currently stable.
When they had visited him in hospital the day after his breakdown in the stone circle, he had sobbed, apologising for not trusting them with his diagnosis sooner.
He had agreed to try the experimental drugs he had been offered by the private clinic and, to the relief of the entire family, as well as Larry’s friends and former employees, who held him in great fondness, these were helping.
There were occasions when he became vague but they were less frequent than before he had begun his treatment.
‘Will I be able to cope with playing Lear though?’ he had asked Caitlin one evening when she had dropped in to see him at Gillian and Alan’s.
‘Yes,’ she had replied, squeezing his hand tightly, ‘because, everyone else has learned your part too and we can all prompt you. Not only that, but also Alan is playing Dardan, a new character, who was Lear’s second-in-command, so he’ll be beside you every step of the way.’
‘But who’s playing Albany?’ Larry had asked. ‘Husband of Goneril?’
‘He’s called Maglaurus in this version and Ted has stepped in,’ Caitlin had replied. ‘He’s very good.’
Larry had been about to protest, then he considered Caitlin’s words and gave a sharp nod of agreement. ‘Yes, it’s about time he stretched himself, instead of always scuffling about in the chorus.’
All around her, Caitlin could hear the bustle and panic of before-show nerves but she felt serene.
In her heart, she knew the play would be a success and, if her father was well enough to take part in the following year’s production, then it would be a bonus.
She wondered if her mother was watching.
If she was, then she would be relieved her daughters were friends again.
‘What are you daydreaming about?’ Lee said. He had changed into his Iron Age costume ready to play Aganippus, King of Gallia.
‘Stories,’ Caitlin sighed. ‘Why do we tell them?’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Lee.
‘My dad, your dad, the Players, everyone who has ever written a poem or a story, told a tale – why do we do it? What made the bards of old sit by the fireside and spin yarns?’
‘Are you expecting an answer or is this rhetorical?’ he asked, slipping his arms around her waist.
‘We do it because it bonds us,’ she said.
‘It helps us to feel secure, to pass on shared history, to pull people together into a community. By telling stories, we’re creating links with our past, with all the ancestors who have walked this planet before us.
Our stories often flow from nowhere, as though they were already in our minds waiting to be accessed.
What if it’s because they’re real, because we’ve lived them before? ’
‘It’s possible,’ said Lee, although he sounded sceptical.
‘Do I really have to quote Shakespeare at you?’ said Caitlin. ‘“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”’
‘Very funny and don’t expect me to respond to the name Horatio,’ he replied. ‘What’s brought on this bout of introspection?’
‘Tonight, the telling of a tale we know is real, even if no one else understands,’ she said.
‘Moon, I know you think this will heal the curse cast by Angarad, but please don’t raise your hopes that it might miraculously cure your dad,’ he said.
‘Is that why you think I’m doing this?’ she said.
‘Oh, Woody, you’re the sweetest. I know the play won’t heal Dad.
I’m doing this for us, the King family, for Goldenwych, for Mum and for the real Cordelia – if she ever did exist – but not because I think it will heal Dad.
One of his favourite quotes is from As You Like It: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances.
” And Shakespeare was right, we’re all playing parts, telling stories and acting on the stage of our lives; this is the new act or scene or even chapter in the drama of our life.
The end of our family feud is enough – and the fact we’re united in helping Dad as he faces the unknown. ’
‘I’ll be there too,’ Lee said.
‘Of course you will, you’re his doctor.’
‘Not as his doctor, but I hope as his son-in-law,’ Lee said and, to Caitlin’s amazement, Lee went down on one knee and pulled a red ring box from underneath his costume.
‘Caitlin Moonbeam Skylark King, will you do me the honour of being my wife? People may say it’s fast, but we both know we’ve had a lifetime together already and I want to spend all the years of our present and future together too. ’
Caitlin stared at him in astonishment, her eyes filling with tears as he opened the box to show her a gold ring set with a moonstone. ‘Yes,’ she said, her heart pounding. ‘Yes, I will.’
Behind them, there was a huge roar of delight and as Lee slid the ring onto her finger, they were engulfed by the rest of the Players. Her father and sisters were the first to reach them, full of a sincerity and enthusiasm Caitlin had never felt they had shown towards Stan.
After a few moments of chaos, a whistle blew.
‘Sorry to interrupt, but the front doors are opening!’ Suki called, beaming at her son and Caitlin. ‘Curtain up in twenty minutes. Beginners please.’
* * *
Caitlin stood in the wings, waiting for her cue.
From the moment her father and Alan had walked on stage, the play had been perfect.
Every song and dance number had been completed with aplomb, all lines had been remembered and even Pete’s no-show had been covered by one of the other members.
Rachel had fretted about it at first, but with Edward beside her, she had eventually thrown herself into her part, forgetting her troubles.
And now, thought Caitlin, is the moment of truth.
Her heart fluttered with nerves, but this extra, secret routine, had been at her suggestion. When she had mooted the idea to George and the rest of the cast, there had been some concern, but Gillian, Rachel and Caitlin had been determined.
‘There will be two doctors there,’ Caitlin had said and, eventually, the secret rehearsals had begun.
‘Ready, Moon?’ said Gillian, coming up beside her, holding the hand of Sindy’s daughter, Rosie.
Sindy followed a few seconds later, zipping up her costume after a quick change.
‘Yes. You two?’ she replied and Sindy nodded.
‘As I’ll ever be,’ Gillian replied, reaching up to adjust the neck of her costume. As she did, Caitlin saw a flash of gold as the pineapple pendant she and Rachel had bought Gillian all those years ago caught the light.
‘Your necklace,’ she whispered.
‘Alan had it repaired and the earrings, although I didn’t think they were suitable for my costume,’ she said. ‘I tucked the pendant inside during the play. He gave them to me when it was confirmed I was pregnant.’
‘What?’ Caitlin and Sindy gasped in delight.
‘Don’t tell anyone yet,’ she said, but she was beaming.
‘Of course. Does Rabbit know?’
‘I told her a few minutes ago.’
They waved to Rachel, who was in the wings on the opposite side of the stage with her daughters, Emelia and Porcelain. Rachel gave a double thumbs-up.
Lee and George left the stage as their scene finished and the lights dimmed.
Rosie, Emelia and Porcelain ran on stage, their tap shoes loud in the silence.
‘Ready?’ whispered Gillian.
‘Ready,’ said Sindy.
‘Ready,’ Caitlin said and they joined hands.
The music began, the old story of the mouse in a windmill in old Amsterdam, and the four King sisters ran on stage to stand behind their nieces and daughters, the routine reworked to include them all.
In the wings, Caitlin saw George, Suki, Edward and Lee surrounding Larry, who had tears of joy in his eyes. Annie, Barbara, Saul, Vicki and Ted watched from the other side.
The younger girls began to sing, then Gillian’s voice filled the theatre, followed by Rachel, Sindy and Caitlin.
Her heart pounding, Caitlin waited for the change in music, and as the beat sped up, she stepped forward and began to dance her turning triple-time step.
A roar of excitement from the audience filled the small theatre and as she finished with a flourish, her father, with Lee and George running behind him, flung himself into her arms.
‘Family,’ he said as his four daughters and three granddaughters hugged him and the audience cheered. ‘There is nothing more beautiful than the love of your family.’
The lights dimmed and the entire cast assembled on stage for the final number, the end of Lear’s troubles, the reuniting of Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, the happy ending never written for Lear but hoped for throughout every tale ever told.
As the bars of Sister Sledge’s ‘We Are Family’ boomed out, Caitlin saw a gold light at the back of the auditorium and, in a flash, the real women from the past flickered into being, the inspiration for all the stories of their lives, and Caitlin knew, whatever they were facing with her father’s illness, they would face it together and with love.
Cordelia and her sisters bowed to her and she bowed in return.
The golden light faded and, as Lee took her hand, a peace settled in her heart as, with her family, she began to sing.