Written for the “Sour” challenge at Tolkien_Weekly.

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Lobelia could write letters of spidery elegance, for she had been taught alongside her brother. Not only to write but also to do sums. She needed no tallystick to count the stores of her household. Hardworking and thrifty, she rose before dawn to stir up the fire and start the day’s work.

“The finest wine makes the sharpest vinegar,” the folk in Hobbiton laughed.

Yet later, when most of them cowered, she stood her ground against the ruffians. For she was mistress in her own household. With grudging respect, the neighbors muttered, “That old Lobelia is still full of vinegar.”