The night Harry's mother sang the forbidden song, Captain Hook's family had been gathered around a campfire, with the crew, singing and dancing, and Uma had thought it wasn't so bad to live on the Island of the Lost.
Uma was still a little girl. She was ten years old, and six months ago Mal had thrown a bucket full of rotten shrimp at her head. But Harry didn't seem to mind, nor did his mother, who had kindly invited her to join them that night once she knew that Ursula was having one of her bad days, the ones where she would pull Uma by the braids and yell at her about how she was her worst mistake, while Uma bit her lip hard to keep from screaming.
CJ and Harriet were playing, attacking their father with wooden swords. Captain Hook wasn't affectionate, never had been, but he appreciated his wife and tried to be patient with their children, which was saying a lot by Isle of the Lost standards. He even allowed them to join his crew's occasional parties. That night, Uma had had some old chicken and wine (even though they were kids, the pirates didn't really care too much about the underage alcohol thing, and anyway, it was the only drink they had), and the heat of a campfire had mixed with the lively, harsh laughter of the sailors.
Harry extended a hand to her, encouraging her to get up to dance, but Uma shook her head.
"I don't know how to dance like your sisters or your mom," she reminded him.
Harry smiled at her with that strange madness that, somehow Uma couldn't understand, made her feel safe. He was her friend, but he was not like any of the friends Uma had ever had before. He had pulled her out of the crowded market while Mal and all the Island laughed at her, and he hadn't brought up the subject again. Harry hadn't turned his back on her, he had immediately led Uma to steal some things and annoy Tic Tac's babies. And from then on, they were inseparable, nail and grime, and Uma spent as much time as she could on the Jolly Roger, and she longed to be a pirate.
"I know you can," Harry insisted. "Come on, Uma, don't be a coward!"
Uma was enraged at the word and took a bite into the air, but all she saw was Harry's joy vibrate like a living flame in his eyes. Red, like everything in the Jolly Roger, like Harry's mother's skirt, who had carried little CJ in her arms and danced with her. She was singing one of the Scottish songs that Harry would hum from time to time.
The woman was beautiful. She had brown eyes, but they glowed with all the force of life, her long red hair melting into the flames as she spun with grace and rhythm, a sword dangling from her hip, brushing her long skirt, and her voice was probably one of the most beautiful things on the island. She hypnotized the entire crew, vicious pirates who fell silent when the captain's wife danced and sang.
Uma took Harry's hand with a groan. How dare he call her a coward? Harry let out a mad laugh. Uma tried to keep up with him, soon finding it easy. Harry's hand felt warm in hers and she wasn't bothered by how close the boy was, although since the Mal incident, Uma had shunned any kind of physical contact with other people, too defensive to accept anything. CJ had let go of her mother's arms and she and Harriet were dancing just like Harry and Uma, the four children keeping up with wild laughter. Uma hadn't felt this good in a long time.
Harry's mother finished singing and the children protested, but Mr. Smee had started to tell some boring story that they weren't really interested in. The fire crackled as if it also missed the dance. Years later, Uma remembered the smell of rum and wine, and Captain Hook's red coat hanging from the wheel. Harry's mother called the children over to the captain's cabin to give them some more chicken that she had saved for them, and the four of them eagerly followed her. Uma remembered that CJ and Harriet had started arguing for who would wear their father's hat, which was lying carelessly on the bed. Harry didn't really care, he had a hook, but he liked to fight his sisters and soon the three siblings were hitting each other on the ground.
Harry's mother was unfazed, she gave Uma more food and a kind smile. Uma didn't know what the warmth of a mother was, but she believed that this was the closest she had ever been to someone taking care of her. Harry's mother must have guessed what Uma was thinking because she tried to reassure her.
"You can stay here tonight, darling, Harry can share his hammock with you," she told her, putting a hand on Uma's cheek; she backed off. The woman turned to her children and separated them. CJ was crying with rage and Harriet smirking, her father's hat clutched in both hands. Harry had a black eye. "It's time to sleep now!"
And her voice, although soft, left no room for discussion.
She led the four children to another room, where there were three hammocks. Harry moved to make room for Uma and she, small as she was, snuggled into him.
"Mom!" CJ moaned, "sing us another song!"
Harry and Harriet yelled in agreement at the younger sister.
And then she started singing the forbidden song. Uma never forgot a single word, or the feeling of belonging, for one night, to a family, although that family would be broken in no time, when Harry's mother fell ill and died, and Captain Hook sank into the alcohol and became like all the other villains on the island.
Upon one summer's morning, I carefully did stray
Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay
Conversing with a bouncing lass, who seemed to be in pain
Saying William, when you go, I fear you will never return again
My heart is pierced by Cupid
I disdain all glittering gold
There is nothing can console me
But my jolly sailor bold
His hair it hangs in ringlets, his eyes as black as coal
My happiness attend him wherever he may go
From Tower Hill to Blackwall, I'll wander, weep and moan
All for my jolly sailor, until he sails home
My heart is pierced by Cupid
I disdain all glittering gold
There is nothing can console me
But my jolly sailor bold
My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair
And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year
Come all you pretty fair maids, whoever you may be
Who love a jolly sailor that ploughs the raging sea
While up aloft in storm, from me his absence mourn
And firmly pray, arrive the day, he's never more to roam
My heart is pierced by Cupid
I disdain all glittering gold
There is nothing can console me
But my jolly sailor bold
My heart is pierced by Cupid
I disdain all glittering gold
There is nothing can console me
But my jolly sailor bold
Years later, when Uma woke up in her cabin of the Lost Revenge, the song still echoed in her mind.