In the Bleak Midwinter 1874

Edwin understood the hearts of men. He knew their failings because, for the most part, he shared them.

He tried, God knows he tried, to overcome his desires. His good lady wife laboured to help him. In some ways that made things worse. If she had been like most wives she would have simply told him that he was wrong, or bad, or even evil. Instead, she just obliged him and said that he should try harder next time.

The wagon was not large but it was adequate, made from mainly beechwood with canvas tacked to the roof. The small marquee was stowed on top and they slept in the inner chamber with many of their belongings stored in the locker, an enclosed space between the living area and the roof. They would go from village to village along the back roads of Dorset. Not the medium or large villages nor the tiny hamlets but anywhere between. Those places that did not have a church.

In his younger days Edwin had been a dedicated drinker. He had seen the light. Now he sincerely needed to spread the word to other drinkers.

During the late morning they would arrive at their destination and set up the marquee on the village green or any such place. In front of it they would place a large placard which read 'Temperance Meeting Here Tonight 7-30'.

They would find somewhere for the horse to be fed and watered, and then the both of them would wander about the village distributing leaflets advertising the meeting.

Sometimes they would get a good crowd and sometimes there would only be a few poor souls to be saved.

Edwin would rant and Edwin would rave against the evil of 'The Demon Drink'.

Generally, people found the experience edifying. To be told that they are damned and then to be reassured that they could be saved always made the listeners feel uplifted. Besides, there wasn't any other form of entertainment in these out of the way places; other than the pub that was.

Titania, Edwin's wife of twenty years, would pass around the assembly collecting donations to help with the cost of spreading the word. They only had a few stools which they reserved for the elderly. Other people stood. Married couples together. The wife wished that her husband would change his ways. Occasional courting couples. The young lady wished that her man would never take to drinking. There were always lone men of varying ages, all of whom had their own private reasons for being there. Most of them wished that their life was different.

By the end of the evening, many of the people were so struck by Edwin's passion that they went off to the pub determined that first thing tomorrow they would give up imbibing alcohol for good. The landlord rarely resented the Ranter because his ranting usually made people thirsty.

The next morning Edwin and Titania would dismantle the marquee and stow it on top of the wagon's roof and store the rigging in the locker. They would then move on. Winter and Summer the couple pursued their mission.

Titania had never been very religious but she loved the Christian rituals, the Anglican rituals that is. Those that marked the changing of the season. Those that had been practised for hundreds of years. This love sprung from her upbringing in a solid family. Each festival of the year was marked exactly as it should be. But Christmas was special.

Her father was a doctor in a small Devon town. Her parents had been loyal, true and loving to each other. Titania was their only child. It was their enthusiasm for tee-totalism that had driven her passion at first but now it was her love for Edwin. It was largely her parents' money that had sponsored the Temperance Wagon.

Winter in the wagon was hard but Titania and Edwin kept Christmas as best they could. They made the wagon cosy and warm. But sometimes she wished for those long gone family Christmases.

They had met at a Temperance Society meeting. Titania had never been a drinker but she had seen the damage that it could do. She wanted to do all she could to end the evil. Edwin had been saved but he was still fighting his other demons.

They married. It soon became clear that drink was not his only vice.

At first Titania found it exciting but Edwin was always filled with remorse afterwards. She made it clear that she understood his fears.

When standing in the marquee, Edwin's aim was to save his listeners from drunkenness. He knew that simply saying that they would feel better, or save money, or that they would be a better father or mother wasn't going to be enough of an argument. He had to convince people that they would be admitted to the Kingdom of Heaven if they abstained, even though he wasn't convinced that they would.

He had no strong feelings either way, to his shame he was a Laodicean.

...............................................................................

The 24th day of December 1874

Since dawn flurries of snow had drifted in the frosty wind. It had been difficult to stow the stiff canvas of the marquee.

Edwin and Titania pulled onto the tiny village green just before midday. It was just as difficult to unpack and erect the tent. None of the villagers had taken pity on them enough to help but an elderly lady had felt sorry for Hercules and had allowed him to take shelter from the bitter cold in her stable. At least he would be able to eat warm oats.

After a little lunch, the couple trod the lanes handing out their leaflets.

Back in the warmth of the wagon they felt the blood returning to their fingers and toes.

Edwin gazed into the little charcoal burner the occasional flash of red reflected on his face.

"A penny for your thoughts, my love," said Titania, "although I could easily guess the foremost one."

"If you know, please don't make me ask. I have struggled with it for some time now."

Titania smiled understandingly, "I know that you would not have given up the fight easily. You don't need to ask me, I will do it willingly if that is your wish."

.....................................................................

That evening the gathering was sparse. The old lady who had kindly stabled Hercules, three married couples and a solitary young man, that was all.

Edwin was on top form. Passion coursed through him. He managed to strike the exact balance between warning of the danger of alcohol and reassurance that God and Jesus weren't Killjoys. The festive season was a time to be jolly and enjoy yourselves but not to drink alcohol.

Titania passed around the collection bag and found that the congregation was more generous than she had expected. Nobody refused. Passion coursed through her body too. She wasn't sure if the passion was coming from him or if it was of her own making.

As the young man dropped his ha'penny in, she slipped him a little note.

Just before he left, he held the paper beneath one of the oil lamps. It read, 'Please come to the wagon at nine o'clock. My husband will not be with us'.

When Titania finally counted the coins there was a total of four pence.

...................................................................

The Ranter's wife waited in the faint glow of the wagon's turned down lamplight. She wore nothing but her cotton shift. She had added a pine cone to the charcoal burner which gave a festive smell to the wagon. She had waited like this before but now, as on each previous occasion, she shook with anticipation.

At nine promptly there was a knock on the wooden door.

"It is open. Come in," called Titania.

A nervous looking face appeared from the darkness outside. Then the young man climbed the steps.

A pause and then another face came out of the gloom attached to an identical looking young lad. He quickly shut out the cold night.

"Oh!" said Titania, "I was only expecting one."

"My twin brother Reuben. I have brought him because he has never kissed a woman," said the first lad.

"Oh!" said Titania.

"Neither have you, Saul," said Reuben.

"Oh!" said Titania.

"We thought that as it is Christmas, goodwill to all men and all that, you may feel generous," said Saul.

"Oh!

"Well, if you put it like that, I don't suppose it would do any harm," said Titania, still slightly unsure if it would or not.

Edwin could only hear the conversation. From where he was he could see the bed and Titania on it but no more. The locker had a small spy hole drilled in it. Edwin lay face down with one eye pressed to the hole.

Should he intervene? Did he want to go intervene?

Even if he did, he couldn't. The locker hatch could only be opened from the outside. In some ways this absolved him from making the decision. He simply pressed his eye closer.

Titania removed her shift and lay naked on the bed.

Edwin felt the weight of his body pressed against his now erect penis. He was in such a confined space that he couldn't move. His arms were held tightly against his sides. His toes just about rested on the locker hatch.

He couldn't see but he could hear the two village lads removing their clothing. They then appeared on either side of Titania. The bed was narrow so they both had their stiff young implements pressed hard against her thighs.

Titania reached her hands down and did her best to stroke each of them at the same time.

"Which of you is the oldest twin," she asked.

"Saul, by ten minutes," said Reuben.

"Then Reuben shall go first for a change," giggled Titania, smiling up at the spy hole.

Edwin felt the delicious pain of his immobility. His arms and legs were losing their blood supply. The blood was trapped in his penis and was going nowhere. His testicles felt slightly crushed which, if anything, added to the pleasure.

Titania tried to move closer to Reuben. He brought his leg over and found a place between her open legs. Titania now had room to grasp Saul's hand to make him feel part of it.

She reached down and guided Reuben into her. She grunted gently as he entered.

Crushing her under his young lithe body he began to hump. Titania stared over his shoulder and straight at the spy hole. She licked her lips.

Reuben humped her for all his worth. A young lad's Christmas wish being fulfilled at last.

There was no subtlety, no finesse. Just a boy relieving himself of years of adolescence.

He bucked as he let his sperm go.

Titania felt just as she knew Edwin wanted her to feel, lascivious. It was his vice, his demon but she was integral to it all. To watch his wife being used by a stranger set a fire in him. In this case a virgin stranger.

As Reuben rolled off, a thought came to Titania. "How old are you, Reuben?" she asked, nervously.

"He's eighteen, same as me," said Saul.

"Oh, thank God," said Titania. Although quite what she would have done if he had said otherwise, she didn't know. Could she, in all conscience, refuse Saul after allowing Reuben into her?

Edwin's discomfort and pleasure increased in equal measure. Not even in his most fevered lust had he ever imagined this scenario.

Titania moved towards Saul. She reached down to hold Reuben's hand this time, wishing to include him in the experience as well.

Saul brought his leg over and then slipped easily into her. Titania scolded herself for trying to judge if she could detect any significant difference between the two boys. Normally, the crushing bodily contact would have been off putting in a more experienced man but somehow in these two novices it was endearing. She kept her eyes on the spy hole remembering for whose benefit she was playing the whore.

Maybe because there was a little less friction, Saul lasted a tad longer. He humped her just as hard though with no more finesse than his twin brother. Soon enough, he pushed himself in as far as he could and bucked violently. His young wish had come true too.

"Thank you, thank you," said Saul as he rolled off.

"Oh. Sorry, yes thank you," said Reuben.

Both boys made their way to the end of the bed as if they believed that they may be in some sort of trouble for what they had just done. They dressed quickly.

"Remember, stay away from strong drink," said Titania, as much for Edwin's sake as the boy's.

They slipped out into the cold night. No sooner had they closed the door behind them than Saul returned.

He said, "Sorry I was meant to tell you. Mother says that you and your husband are to come for Christmas dinner at noon tomorrow. She will not accept a refusal.

"We live at the first farm you come to as you leave the village northwards.

"I am to tell you that Mother will not tolerate strong drink in the house, so don't worry on that account."

He looked quite pleased with himself for remembering the whole message. Then he was gone.

Titania lept from the bed, still naked. She used a hook on a pole to release the catch that held the locker hatch shut.

Slowly, carefully, Edwin eased his naked body towards the hatch like a caterpillar in reverse. First his legs and then his still erect penis came into view. Titania helped him to lower himself down.

Every tissue in his limbs screamed as the blood started to return. Titania dived back on the bed and spread her legs giving him a full view of her puffy used vagina. The white leaking semen contrasting against her scarlet flower shaped lips. The warm aroma from it mingled with the charcoal roughness and pine freshness.

Edwin's agony was written on his face.

"Does it hurt a lot, my love?" asked Titania.

"Yes, but I must suffer for my sin," said Edwin.

He fell face down onto the bed. She rolled him over onto his back. Titania threw her leg over his body, placed her hand between her legs and pushed him into her.

She rode him like she was on a young stallion. Hard and fast.

Just as he had done a dozen or so times before, he wallowed in his guilt, ecstasy and pain as his wife smeared another's juices on his penis and testicles. She wallowed in his wallowing.

All this time blood rushed back into his arteries and veins. The pain and pleasure washed over him. The waves, sometimes hot, sometimes cold but always cathartic.

As he regained the use of his arms, he reached up and grasped Titania's full mature breasts. He gripped them firmly to stop her falling forward as she orgasmed.

She orgasmed but she did not fall.

Her contractions gripped him. Edwin ejaculated but still she galloped on for as long as she could. She knew that it was her duty to punish him for his transgressions.

...................................................................

25th day of December 1874

Morning revealed a day no less cold but with just a little lying snow. Edwin and Titania both went to attend to Hercules. The old lady's groom had provided the ancient horse with fresh straw, fresh water and fresh hay so he showed no sign that he was pleased to see them. He was warm, well fed and he could smell other horses nearby. What more could an elderly horse wish for at Christmas?

The lady informed them that she was going to her son's family for Christmas dinner but that they were welcome to leave the horse in the warm for a day or so. Edwin offered to pay her but the woman would have none of it. Titania smiled as the lady spent the next twenty minutes telling Edwin all about her grandchildren. So that was a kind of payment, wasn't it?

The married couple had no trouble finding the farm. Mrs Fisher, Saul and Reuben's widowed mother, welcomed them both into a bright and warm home well decorated for the Yuletide.

She was about the same age as Titania. Her husband had been killed in a farm accident while drunk. Now, she would not allow alcohol in the house. Titania tried to give her the bottle of ginger beer and the two pork chops that they had originally intended for their meagre Christmas lunch.

Mrs Fisher gladly accepted the ginger beer but insisted that they should take the chops back when they left. Since the boys had been able to help out, the farm was doing well so she had no need for their food.

She said that she had made Dandelion and Burdock as well as Lemonade and that the Ginger Beer would be a welcome addition.

What a jolly festive lunch it was. Neither Titania nor Edwin could remember the last time that they had had roast goose with all the trimmings. This was followed by Christmas Pudding with cream. Titania found the silver thru'penny bit in her pudding. Everybody agreed that it would bring her luck for the coming year. Later, she left it on the mantle shelf for Mrs Fisher to find.

Saul and Reuben were funny and had everyone in stitches with stories of mistaken identity. Titania didn't mind that one or the other of them would give her the occasional knowing smile. She didn't know what they were thinking but she could guess. Each time she flushed slightly but she said it was caused by the lovely roaring fire. Everytime Titania's discomfort showed on her face Edwin pictured her pinned under one of the twins and felt a twitch in his trousers.

After lunch Edwin and the boys played darts. Good natured banter rang around the house.

Mrs Fisher and Titania went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

As they worked, Martha Fisher said, "I wanted to thank you for the great service you did for my boys last night."

There was silence for a moment.

Titania started to say, "I don't know how to expla.............."

"No, don't try. You have lifted a weight from me," said Matha.

"How is that?" asked Titania, trying to cover her embarrassment.

"Well, ever since their voices changed, Saul and Reuben have become increasingly frustrated.

"I have been at my wits end. They pester me constantly about it. There are no young women for miles around, you see.

"What should I do? I did think of paying some village housewife to take care of the boys, if you know what I mean. But how do you start a conversation like that?

"I have been wishing and praying for a miracle but I had almost resigned myself to the fact that I would have to do it myself. Then Saul showed me your note," said the boy's mother, lowering her eyes.

"Oh, he showed it to you?" asked Titania, "I didn't think that would happen."

"Don't worry. As far as I am concerned, you are a Christmas Angel sent in answer to my prayers," said Mrs Fisher, smiling sweetly.

"As they have always done everything together, I sincerely wished that you wouldn't mind my sending Reuben along too."

"It is not my intention to worry you but now that they have started they will certainly want to try again," said Titania.

Martha Fisher replied, "Yes, I will probably have to think about that in the New Year but for now my wish has come true."

Once the game of darts was over Mrs Fisher, believing that nobody could possibly have had enough lunch, served tea and rich fruit cake. Then in the time-honoured Christmas tradition everyone dozed off to sleep. It may have been the food or it may have been the warmth of the room.

After the nap, the Lady of the House judged that it must be time for more food as it was getting on for teatime. Cold ham and cheese, fresh bread and giant pickled onions were laid upon the table.

Saul (although it may have been Reuben, I can't tell them apart) shouted that it had started to snow heavily. Everyone rushed to the window to see as if they had never seen laying snow before.

Glasses were charged and Mrs Martha Fisher proposed a non-alcoholic toast, which your Author would sincerely like to second, dear readers.

"A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL."