while we wait for the water in the pot to heat , sarah lists the people in the homestead , a blur of names i wo n't remember : grandpa , the oldest ; lu , short for lucky , who lost a finger to a bad infection but managed to keep her life , and the rest of her limbs , intact ; bram , short for bramble , who appeared miraculously in the wilds one day , in the middle of a tangle of brambles and thorns , as though deposited there by wolves .