Chapter 9
9
A little after two o’clock, Vi sat down in the living room and dialled the number Finbarr had given her. It rang several times and Vi was about to hang up when she heard a click and a soft voice said: ‘Hello?’
‘Is that Fidelma Sheridan?’ Vi asked.
‘Speaking,’ the woman said.
‘Oh, hello,’ Vi said. ‘My name is Violet Fleury and I’m?—’
‘You’re going to play Kathleen O’Sullivan in the movie about her life,’ Fidelma interrupted.
‘How did you know?’ Vi asked.
‘I read the article in The Irish Times ,’ Fidelma explained. ‘You look so very like her, you know.’
‘Oh, thanks,’ Vi said. ‘I’m glad you think so.’
‘That Finbarr didn’t have a clue who you were,’ Fidelma scoffed. ‘He said you were some kind of journalist doing research. You’d think he’d pay attention. But young people are so into their own world and don’t know how to read properly. Always on those dratted phones, whatever it is they do on them. It’s a curse of the times we live in.’ She paused. ‘So… where were we? Oh yes, Kathleen O’Sullivan. You’re going to play her, so you need to know all about her, is that right?’
‘Yes,’ Vi said. ‘I just felt I should have all the background information in order to be as close to her character as possible. There isn’t much in any biography that I can find, just the bare bones of her life. Birth, youth, marriage, movies and so on. But not anything that will tell me who she really was.’ Vi thought fleetingly about the production company and how they seemed not to have been in touch with people Kathleen might have known. But perhaps the dance studio was too much of a long shot for them.
‘I see,’ Fidelma said. ‘Well, I can only tell you what I remember of the early days. She was at the dance school at the same time as she went to drama school. She wanted to learn to dance in order to move gracefully on the screen. I thought it was a very good thing for her to do. She was quite a big girl and a little awkward when she first started dancing. But then she improved, all thanks to Maximilian. He was a Russian teacher of modern dance. He inspired her. In fact he inspired us all, I have to say. Marvellous man.’
‘Tell me more,’ Vi urged, intrigued. ‘It’s great to talk to someone who knew Kathleen.’
‘Oh, I knew her better than a lot of people,’ Fidelma said. ‘I was young, only fifteen, and very shy when I started taking lessons at the studio. Kathleen encouraged me and gave me confidence. Taught me how to stand up for myself. She had been up against some difficult times early in her life and that had hardened her. She was quite feisty and some would say mean, but she was like a big sister to me.’ Fidelma drew breath.
‘That’s very interesting,’ Vi said. ‘I didn’t know Kathleen had had a difficult childhood.’
‘I think we all did to some degree,’ Fidelma said. ‘People were generally poor in those days. The war years were not easy, even though Ireland was not involved.’
‘I can imagine,’ Vi said. ‘Especially in Kerry. So Kathleen would have felt that growing up here.’
‘Oh, yes, she would,’ Fidelma said with feeling. ‘Her parents didn’t approve at all. She ran away from home and hid in some kind of hostel while she worked as a cleaner while she went to drama school. Then she got small parts in plays and managed to live on the meagre wages from that.’
‘I had no idea,’ Vi said, taken aback. ‘There’s nothing about that in her biography.’
‘I think she wanted to keep that quiet,’ Fidelma said. ‘It wasn’t the kind of thing she wanted people to know.’
‘I see.’ Vi felt a dart of pity mingled with admiration for Kathleen. It must have been difficult to make ends meet and to go against the wishes of her parents. She seemed to have fought hard to realise her dreams. ‘I suppose cinema was really what she wanted to do,’ she suggested.
‘I think so. Do you dance yourself?’ Fidelma asked.
‘No,’ Vi replied, startled by the sudden change of subject. ‘I did a bit of Irish dancing when I was younger, but that’s all.’
‘Maybe you should have lessons,’ Fidelma suggested. ‘If you want to move as gracefully as Kathleen. I think body language and way of moving are important in this case.’
‘That’s a good idea,’ Vi said. ‘I think there is a school of dance in Dingle. Only for children but I could ask if I could have private lessons perhaps.’
‘Excellent,’ Fidelma said.
‘So could you tell me a bit more about Kathleen?’ Vi asked. ‘I’d love to know as much as I can about her.’
‘Not much more to tell,’ Fidelma said. ‘She left the school as soon as she got that offer from Hollywood. So I only knew her for a little over a year.’
‘Oh,’ Vi said, disappointed. ‘I was hoping…’
‘But,’ Fidelma interrupted, ‘we formed a close friendship during that year. I think she saw me as a younger sister to whom she could tell things nobody else knew.’
‘Oh,’ Vi said. ‘Like what?’
‘It’s a little complicated to talk about it over the phone. But I have letters you might be interested in. We wrote to each other, you see. And sent cards at Christmas. She told me all about what she was doing and who she met and so on. Fascinating for me who had just done a bit of dancing for fun and then went on to get married and raise a family. Those letters were the high point of Christmas for me. A little hard to read as Kathleen’s handwriting was not the best. Not exactly calligraphy, if you know what I mean,’ she added, laughing.
‘Gosh,’ Vi said, her heart beating faster at the thought of reading those letters. ‘I would love to read them. Would it be possible for you to send copies to me?’
‘I suppose,’ Fidelma said, sounding doubtful. ‘You can see the originals, if you like. If I can find them. My house is not very tidy these days. I still live in the same house my husband and I bought over sixty years ago. He passed away three years ago and now I’m on my own. My children keep telling me to move to somewhere smaller, but who is going to sort out the house and put it up for sale and all that, I wonder? They’re all too busy to help.’
‘I can imagine,’ Vi said, feeling sorry for the old lady. It must be hard to sit in a big old house full of things from the past. ‘Moving house is always difficult.’
‘It’ll be like moving a mountain,’ Fidelma said with a sigh. ‘I’m lucky I can still manage on my own, or it would be the old folks’ home for me. I’m dreading the day that will happen.’
‘It might not,’ Vi soothed. ‘You seem very fit and healthy to me.’
‘But I’m old,’ Fidelma said. ‘Sorry to be so gloomy. You didn’t call me to hear me complain. In any case, whenever I have to move to that home, my children will have to come and sort out the house without me. Then they’ll be sorry they didn’t do it sooner.’
‘I’m sure,’ Vi said, not quite knowing what else to say. She was dying to see those letters but it didn’t look as if Fidelma could even find them if she still had them. This whole conversation was turning into a wild goose chase. The only thing she had learned was that Kathleen had had a difficult childhood and that she was good at dancing. Not much to go on.
‘I will look for those letters,’ Fidelma promised. ‘I have a feeling you should see them. Much to learn about Kathleen and some of it might surprise you. I’ll contact Finbarr as soon as I’ve found the box and have him send it to you. That’s all I can do.’
‘That’s very kind,’ Vi said, touched by the old woman’s willingness to help. ‘I have a feeling it will help me be more like her.’
‘Oh, you wouldn’t want to be like her in real life,’ Fidelma said. ‘Only in the movie, I mean. She wasn’t quite what she pretended… Well, you’ll find out in time. It was good to talk to you, Violet. Goodbye.’ Fidelma hung up without waiting for an answer.
After that abrupt end to the conversation, Vi sat there for a while, thinking about what Fidelma had said. There was something that felt ominous, as if Kathleen had had some kind of trauma in her life that had changed her. Vi wondered if she really wanted to play Kathleen after all. She knew the director wanted to tell Kathleen’s story, mostly her romance, but it sounded like there was much more to Kathleen than that, much more that they hadn’t even bothered to find out. Why not? she wondered. And if I find something shocking in Kathleen’s past, will I still want to play her when I know the truth?
Vi was startled out of her reverie by the doorbell. Who could be at the front door? Most people in Kerry would call at the back door of a house so this felt unusual. Was it the postman? No, he had been earlier that day. The bell rang again. Puzzled, Vi opened the door and stared in shock at the person on the doorstep.