"They don't," Greta replies. She minds this line of questioning a bit less, if only because she imagines Saoirse might find the answer a little discouraging. "You need a calf if you want a cow to produce milk. That means you have to get a bull from somewhere — I suppose you could just borrow one, if you knew another farmer — and then figure out what to do with the calves once they've grown up. Back in the Village, that usually meant sending it off to the butcher before winter set in."

She doesn't intend to be harsh, just honest, and she thinks Saoirse's mature enough to handle it. Really, she just wants to make sure that Saoirse doesn't get it into her head that keeping a cow would be as straightforward as keeping chickens, especially if you want milk out of the bargain.