But as time passed her hands became hard, tough, and rough. On a good night Greta would make four or five brooms. When Greta had two hundred and forty brooms she decided that it was time to sell them. After the pleasant drive, Greta arrived in the village. The first store she stopped at had depressing news, all the ship outfitters at West La Have had a full stock of brooms. Greta was told that if she crossed the half a mile river and went three miles down there was a chance she could sell her treasured brooms at East La Have. With no other choice Greta set out toward East La Have. After her long ride in the cold she was stiff but, she entered the store with excitement. "Sorry, lady, but it seems everybody's been making brooms this winter. We've got to many now." As Greta held back tears, one of the fishing captains sitting inside simply told the store owner that if he didn't buy her brooms he wouldn't buy from him. Once Greta received her ninety-six dollars she, fastened the money to the inside hem of her skirt with a big safety pin. As Greta drove off, all she could think about was all the new things she could buy for her son and for her farm. She never once thought about herself. Once the snow began to fly, she could not see across the river. Eventually the barely visible path she was following vanished and she had to have faith in her horse to find the way. Since it was only a mile or so, Greta was not afraid. As the horse led the way, it seemed oddly long to Greta. At last her horse Judy came to a stop. Realizing that her horse had been lost the whole time and led her out towards the open sea, Greta got down to lead Judy and began to walk. .
"Greta's arms and legs felt numb. One thing was certain, she was freezing there in the bitter wind and snow. So was the little horse." Since the wind seemed to come from the right, Greta decided that it would be best if she kept the wind on her right cheek so that she would avoid going in circles.