"This is just exactly how Mama rolls out her crusts," Sarah announced proudly as she carefully pressed her "crust" into the dented, rusty little pan she had rescued from that morning's garbage. Will sat nearby, staring with dismay and trepidation at a little row of mud pies, which he was duly expected to eat. Sarah was now adding a filling of rather green mulberries with great care and deliberation to her finished crust.

"Aren't mulberries supposed to be purple?" Will frowned nervously at the berries. Sarah shrugged.

"These are green so I guess they're s'posed to be green. If they were s'posed to be purple, then they would be purple."

"But they turn purple," Will shifted uncomfortably. "They'll be awfully sour."

"Ms. Smythe wouldn't give me any sugar," Sarah wrinkled her nose. "She's awful stingy." Will smiled with sudden inspiration.

"Maybe you should give her the pie!"

"Why should I do that?" Sarah sat back, satisfied, and wiped her grimy hands on her already-soiled apron. "I made it for you. There. Isn't it beautiful?"

Will hesitated, cocking his head to one side and staring reflectively at the elaborate little pastries

"Well…" he began slowly. "I 'preciate you making them and all but…" he stopped. Something told him that it probably wouldn't work to argue with Sarah. Especially when she was so pleased. He hated to disappoint her.

"There you are," she presented him with her concoction proudly. It was rather pretty, no one could deny that. The crust was crimped just like a real one and the mulberries arranged so prettily. If only the crust wasn't made of mud and if only those dratted mulberries weren't so hard and green. He stalled as long as he could, looking dismally at the pie, then closed his eyes and actually took a bite out of it after all. Sarah watched in astonishment as he chewed slowly, then swallowed hard, with a grimace.

"Whatever did you do that for?" she gasped, her eyes wide.

Will opened his eyes slowly, feeling a little sick.

"What do you mean?"

"You really did eat it!" she cried in obvious shock.

"Wasn't I s'posed to? You told me to…"

"No, silly!" Sarah was laughing now. "Haven't you ever pretended anything?"

"Pretend?" Will groaned, pressing a hand to his stomach.

"And now you've spoiled it," Sarah regarded the half-eaten pie ruefully. "Oh, well…" she laughed again. "You should see the look on your face!"

How Sarah could find it so funny, Will could not understand. The berries had been hard as rocks and he hadn't expected even mud to taste that bad. But Sarah was laughing so hard that she had tears in her eyes.

"I can't believe it!" she cried, wiping her eyes. "You don't know how to pretend! Imagine… not knowing how to pretend anything!"

Needless to say, Will learned to pretend pretty quickly. At least when around Sarah. It never hurts to be cautious. Very, very cautious.

oOo

"I met your father yesterday," Sarah was perched on the edge of the little stone well as Will was gulping water furiously, trying to wash the taste of mud out of his mouth. "He must take care of the horses. He had the most beautiful horse I've ever seen, the sort of horse that a prince would ride, I suppose. So big and black as midnight."

"It's the king's horse," Will wiped his face with his sleeve. He was still a little mad at Sarah, but he wouldn't dare to tell her so. "It's just arrived. His name is Brioc."

"Brioc. Brioc." Sarah tried the name out. She liked the sound of it. "What does that mean?"

Will shrugged.

"How should I know? Not every name means something…"

"Yes, it does!" Sarah cried indignantly. "Mama said all names mean something. Names are really important too. The meaning of someone's name should be something about that person. Like my name. I'm always pretending that I'm a princess, so it's a good thing my name means princess."

Will had his own ideas about pretending, but didn't bother mentioning them.

"And your name," she continued. "It may sound dreadful, but it does mean something. I asked Mama just the other day and she told me that Hezekiah means "God gives strength." Hezekiah was a king in the Bible. He was a good king."

"Hezekiah doesn't count. What does Will mean?"

Sarah frowned contemplatively.

"I don't know," she admitted with a sigh. "I'll find out someday, I guess. But I was wanting to ask you, does your mother work at the palace?"

"She's the seamstress." Will nodded. Sarah smiled in delight.

"How lovely! I haven't met the seamstress yet, but I've seen her lots. She's so pretty and looks so sweet and the dresses I've seen her making are just beautiful! I'll have to go talk to her someday. Do you think she'd like me?"

"I guess so." Will couldn't imagine his mother not liking anybody. "Her name is Ruth. Now, I suppose that means something."

"It does!" Sarah bounced down from the well and carefully retrieved her little pans. The mud pies had been reluctantly disposed of, the dishes washed, and now would be carefully tucked away in the base of the hollow oak tree. "I asked Mama once a long time ago, because there was a girl in the village named Ruth. It means friend! And I hope she'll be my friend."

This story talks a lot about the meaning of names. I got interested, so I checked up on my other characters. No, I didn't research before writing LOMC. This is all pure coincidence. Please read all! (And don't ask me how Sarah knows what all these names mean… it might be unrealistic for a peasant girl, but I thought it was pretty sweet. It's just one of her character traits, to be so obsessed with the importance of names.)

Caroline means "strong". It signifies a freedom-loving, free-spirited person who loves change and adventure and can make decisions quickly. I'd say that's partly true of my Caroline. Also shy and reserved, sensitive, emotional and caring, a wonderful person to have as a friend since she is perceptive and a good listener. Also loves to read. What d'ya know about that?

John means "graced by God". It signifies resolute strength and character; a person who is courageous, honest, determined, hard-working; a natural-born leader and admired for strength of character. Means someone with a "profound sense of justice" who feels "great compassion", is highly intuitive, "challenges and difficulties stimulate and spur him on"

Edward means "wealth" and "guardian" or "protector". It signifies someone who is reliable and consistent, energetic and determined. Cannot tolerate mediocrity or superficiality (aka princesses who want an advantageous match?) Known for "impressive natural authority", integrity, and strong sense of justice but "has an annoying habit of poking his nose into other people's business, but because he thinks he's doing the right thing". Note: I am laughing so hard right now because, according to this ridiculous website where I got all this stuff, Edward was exactly the perfect name for Edward.

Cinderella (yes, it's actually a real name now…) means "little ashes" (duh). Signifies someone who is emotional and imaginative, impulsive, capricious, quick-tempered, and can speak before thinking. She has an endearing personality, romantic and motherly, a wonderful friend and hard worker, extremely feminine. Ella means basically the same thing.

Sarah means "princess", of course. It signifies someone who is extremely sensitive and intuitive. Very inspired and creative, builds "castles in the sky" LOL! Adorable and endearing, eager to please, can become lost in her daydreams, sentimental and romantic and "idealizes her sweetheart by putting him on a pedestal", very feminine and motherly. Okay, this is crazy. No, I don't believe in fortune-telling and horoscopes and all that sort of thing, but this is an awfully funny coincidence. This is just exactly the character I had in mind for Sarah.

Hezekiah, meaning "God gives strength", is someone who "cheerfully conceals a deeply emotive and hypersensitive nature." It is "all or nothing" with him, sturdy, brave, and assertive, can be conceited, impatient, impulsive, reckless, and tense. Nah… doesn't quite work. Will is strong inside but timid outside, not at all reckless and impulsive, and not given to "explosions" as they say. But he doesn't really use his first name… Will, apparently, means "protector", which is good. I'm not gonna bother writing everything else out because, funny thing is, it symbolizes practically exactly the same things as Sarah. That doesn't really cut it either.

By the way, I had a reason for choosing the name "Hezekiah". If any of you are acquainted with Anne of Green Gables, when she tells her parents' names, she talks about how glad she is that they have lovely names. "It would be a disgrace to have a father named, well... Hezekiah" I always thought that was pretty funny...

Charles means "free man". Signifies quiet strength and has a "presence that is reassuring". Sociable, caring, sensitive, and committed to justice, makes great efforts to achieve peace. "disharmony is likely to cause him distress", is gentle, affectionate, kind, and helpful, eloquent and persuasive, and ! "would make a wonderful big brother" O.O This is creepy weird. Guess I just named him well!

Kathryn means "pure". Signifies someone who is anxious and nervous to the point of anguish and distress. Conceals a worried nature and tries to look stronger than she is. Passionate and enthusiastic, sometimes sarcastic and cynical. "contrasts in behaviour", as in happy one minute and depressed the next. Hm… I haven't exactly developed her character yet… this is probably only half-true.

What do you think? Are my characters named well then? These are pretty funny coincidences… Wonder who comes up with all this stuff? The symbolism of the names is coincidence at that, and I didn't mention everything, since not everything really qualifies for the character. But the actual meaning of the names is important.

Oh, by the way, the mud-pie-eating incident really happened, to me at least. I made a mud pie and got my brothers to eat it. For real. I tried it myself too, it was gross. Don't recommend it. And we had a mulberry tree, always ate un-ripe mulberries until we were dreadfully sick. But don't worry, Will didn't eat enough to get himself sick.