In a time and place where his wrongness would lead to him being stoned or burned unto his death, Ezekiel found a way to fulfil all of his duties as given to be him by God, and yet still be true to himself.

This is the story of Ezekiel's Victory.

"My son," said Samuel, his voice breaking. "Are you certain that this is the right thing to do? It goes against God for you to wear those clothes."

"I am her brother," replied Ezekiel. "She is innocent and it is my duty to protect her. I will protect her even unto my dying breath. They are too many to fend off with weapons. This is the best way. If God objects, well, I shall face Him soon enough and then I shall discover God's will."

Chapter 2

Ezekiel paused for a moment and looked down. Then he brushed his hand down his dress and stood up straight with a strange smile on his face.

"You all know I have felt a wrongness since I were a child. A wrongness I could never put into words. A wrongness that suggested God had a different purpose for me. I could never be like the other boys in the village, despite my best efforts. Today, standing here in this dress, for the first time I understand the message of that wrongness. This is my purpose. I feel it in my heart. God wants me to wear these clothes. He wants me to walk out that door as a woman. It is God's plan that I walk up that hill in the place of my sister, that she may live. Why else would I feel such joy at this terrible time?"

"You also have a duty to marry and produce grandchildren who will serve God while carrying my blood into the next generation," said Samuel. "If you do this thing, you will fail in that duty."

Ezekiel blushed and looked down. "Father, I could never speak of this before, but that same wrongness I mentioned …" He hesitated and then continued. "I have never looked upon a woman and felt …" He stopped again.

Ezekiel's face turned the brightest shade of red as he looked nervously around his family. He saw only love and compassion reflected in their eyes so he looked down to the floor and tried again.

"I fear that were I to marry, I would be unable to consummate my marriage in a way that a husband should. I am shamed to say this. There could never have been such grandchildren for you. This was a duty I was destined never to fulfil."

Samuel frowned and looked away. Ezekiel lifted his head up and spoke to his father's back.

"This is the right thing for me, Father. Please believe me. Dressed as I am, I know that I am ready to stand before God and accept His judgement. Until this moment, I could not comprehend what God wanted from me, but now I do know. Now I am ready."

Isabelle stepped forward and embraced her son. "We have always known about this wrongness within you. We suspected that of which you speak. Please do not blame your father for holding out a last hope for a grandson from you. Put aside your shame. It is not needed. You are still loved in this house. And for your sacrifice tonight, you will always be honored."

Samuel cleared his throat as he turned back to face his son. He placed his hand on Ezekiel's shoulder. "Indeed, my son. You are loved and honored. That you offer your life to save your sister is beyond all duty and speaks only of love. If God has given you this purpose then who am I to deny Him."

They turned and looked towards Constance. Hope had finished feeding and now lay sleeping in her mother's arm as Constance adjusted her clothing with the other arm.

Ezekiel suddenly let out a small cry of joy and broke away from his parents. His skirts swirled around him as he crossed the room. He gathered the skirts around him and knelt before his sister.

"I have just now thought of a way I can protect you even beyond this night. Further I can, at least in part, fulfil my duty to my father to provide him with a grandchild. Before the man Ezekiel disappears from this world, there is one last deed I can accomplish. Constance, my dear sister, will you marry me? Will you marry me, right now, tonight? Then, when I am gone, my father will be duty bound to protect his widowed daughter-in-law."

"We would protect her anyway," said Samuel. "She is our daughter."

Isabelle nodded and added her agreement.

"Father, while you may protect me out of love, you forfeited that duty when you gave me as a wife to Symeon," said Constance. "That duty should now fall to Symeon's family but they have spurned me. I am here because of your generosity, Father, not because of your duty."

She turned to Ezekiel who still knelt before her. "Yes, I will marry you. I will be honored to be your wife and accept your protection for however long you can give it. I love you dearly, my sweet Ezekiel. It gladdens my heart to see you so full of purpose. It gladdens my heart to see you so happy, even in this hour of desperation. Stand and let us embrace."

While her son and daughter embraced, Isabelle crossed to the table and picked up the family Bible from its place. She handed it to Samuel and stood beside him. Samuel frowned in doubt.

"To marry your own sister? Surely that goes against God."

"Hush, my husband," whispered Isabelle. "I see God's hand in this. Look at Ezekiel. Can you not see? Such Grace can only come from God."

"Yes!" exclaimed Ezekiel. "I feel the Grace of God within me! Please do not deny me this."

"Besides," continued Isabelle, "as Ezekiel's wife, Constance will rejoin our family in the eyes of God. There is no wickedness in this union for they will never lie together as man and wife. The only wickedness here tonight is what awaits outside our door."

Ezekiel took Constance by the hand and led her over to their father. Though he wore the dress of a woman, he walked like a man — strong and proud.

Constance handed Hope to Isabelle who cradled the infant in her arms. Then Ezekiel and Constance clasped hands and rested their joined hands on the Bible.

In a solemn voice, Ezekiel then spoke.

"I, Ezekiel, son of Samuel, do this day before God and these witnesses take you, Constance, as my wife."

Constance lifted one hand from where they were clasped and brushed a tear from her cheek. Then she pushed her hair back behind her ear so that her family could see her face clearly and put her hand back on the Bible.

"I, Constance, widow of Symeon, do this day before God and these witnesses take you, Ezekiel, as my husband."

"Amen!" said the others in unison.

Ezekiel and Constance exchanged a kiss on the lips. The kiss was chaste but with passion, if such a thing is possible.

Then they all watched as Samuel opened the Bible to the inside cover where a handwritten list could be seen — each in a different handwriting and with different ink. He picked up a pen and dipped it in the ink and then carefully wrote, "Ezekiel, son of Samuel m. Constance." He dipped the pen again and then added the year, 1662, and the name of the village. Samuel took a moment to run his eye over the previous entry which was the record of his own marriage to Isabelle and the entry before which was that of his father and mother and the entries before that.

"It is done!" announced Samuel as he carefully blotted the ink and closed the Bible. "In the eyes of God, my son Ezekiel and my daughter Constance are now husband and wife."

"There is more," said Ezekiel.

He stepped over to his mother and carefully took the sleeping Hope from her arms. He strode to the centre of the room, his skirts swishing as he moved.

"Father, before God and these witnesses, I take this child as my own."

"Amen!" called out the others.

"Father, I present to you Hope, daughter of Ezekiel. She is now, in truth, your granddaughter."

Ezekiel bent and gently kissed his new daughter on her head. Samuel smiled then carefully took Hope from his son's arms. He kissed his new granddaughter, now of the line of Ezekiel and smiled with pride.

"And what of your other child?" asked Constance as she moved to join Ezekiel. She laid her hand gently on her abdomen. "I was yet to speak of this to anybody but I am with child again. It is Symeon's but now he is dead and I am your wife. Perhaps here is a grandson for your father. Will you also claim this one as your own?"

There was a moment of confusion as everyone in the room cried and clapped with joy. Ezekiel did not need to say the words since all knew that any child born after the wedding would automatically be his but Constance cried with tears of joy when Ezekiel knelt before her and kissed her abdomen through the thick material of her dress.

More tears were shed and many hugs were given. This continued until Ezekiel was embracing Charity.

"And what of me, dearest brother? Constance is not the only sister in need of protection this night. Will you take me as a second wife?"

The others fell silent so they could watch.

"I am promised to Noah and I thought I loved him," said Charity. "But he has joined the mob down at the village in clamoring for my sister's life. Unless we can prevent it, tonight he will become a murderer. I could never marry such a man. But if we do nothing, he could claim me this night or tomorrow and prevent me from leaving this cursed place with my sister and my parents and my beautiful niece. I would rather die than let that happen. Won't you claim me also and save me from such a fate. I say again, will you take me as a second wife?"

Ezekiel opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. He looked towards his mother for guidance.

Isabelle shrugged. "Charity has always been strong-willed," she said. "She speaks rightly about Noah. If this is what she truly seeks, I will not stand in her way."

Ezekiel's eyes flicked then to his father but Samuel merely grunted and shrugged. He felt like so much had changed this night, what was one more thing? Besides, he could see no flaw in Charity's argument. Samuel had no desire to wed his daughter to a man involved in this lynch mob and this was a way that could be avoided.

Ezekiel turned back to Charity and embraced her in such a way that his mouth was near her ear.

"Are you certain?" he whispered as quietly as he could. "You would bind yourself to me and become a widow before you even know the joy of lying with a man?"

Charity squeezed him tightly and whispered her reply. "I would bind myself to you if it meant we had to walk through the very gates of Hell together. It is you that I truly love and seeing you do this today, I cannot help but to love you even more. We will leave from here and have to travel for some time before we can start a new life. It could be years before I find a man who is willing to take me with all of my faults. Until that time, I would rather live as a widow than as a maid."

She stopped and smiled a sly smile. "Besides, do not worry so much about me learning of the joy of lying with a man. I have a plan for that."

Charity giggled softly into his ear then kept whispering.

"In our new place, I will do as Lot's daughters did and lie with my father so that he may have grandchildren. I am certain that when Constance learns of my plan, she will do so as well. In this way we shall both fulfil our duty to our beloved husband. Between us, we shall soon have a brood of younglings and I shall proudly teach them all to call Ezekiel their father. Your duty as the son of Samuel shall be met in full measure and more."

Ezekiel gasped at the audacity of Charity's plan. It was not without precedent for a widow to become second wife to the father or the brother of the dead man but this was a step further than even that. Then he shook his head for Charity had always been nothing if not audacious. Charity's nature had made his role as elder brother difficult at times, but he had always loved her for it.

Charity leaned back so she could look Ezekiel in the eye. "And further, if you take me as your wife tonight, then you have completed in full measure your duty as my brother to protect me and for that I can only love you even more."

Charity gently pushed him away and glared at him. "Now, we don't have a lot of time and you have something important to do."

She looked pointedly at the floor at her feet and then at him and then again at the floor. Ezekiel started as he finally understood her message. But he shook his head.

"Unbind your hair, sister," said Ezekiel. "Let it fall freely, as your sister's does. I understand a need to cover your hair before strangers, but there are no strangers in this house. If I am to go to God tonight then I would see my sister unfettered and free."

Charity reached up and removed her bonnet. She removed the combs that held her hair in place and shook her head. Her hair tumbled in thick tresses and dropped all the way to her hips.

Ezekiel gasped and smiled at her beauty.

He carefully gathered his skirts around him and knelt before her.

"Charity, my dear sweet Charity. Will you do me the honor of agreeing to be my second wife? To stand alongside Constance, your sister, that I might love and cherish and protect you both?"

Charity called out her afirmation in a loud voice so that none present could doubt her sincerity. Charity's smile was radiant as she lifted Ezekiel back to his feet. Then she turned and looked at Samuel. "Father! Why are you still standing over there. Fetch the Bible. We have another ceremony to perform."

Samuel sighed and shook his head but he said nothing as he moved towards the table. Isabelle got there first, however. She picked up the family Bible and pressed it into her husband's hands with a smile.

Now it was the turn of Ezekiel and Charity to perform the simple hand fasting ceremony with their hands clasped over the Bible. It was simple and solemn and achingly beautiful.

At the end, when everyone said "Amen," Charity flung her arms around Ezekiel's neck and kissed him in the way a husband and wife would usually kiss only in the privacy of their own room — and perhaps not even then.

Samuel grunted and quickly turned away. He walked over to the table and carefully made another entry in the front of the family Bible. At the same time Constance, unwilling to be upstaged by her younger sister, stepped forward and applied her own passionate kiss to her brother/husband. Then the two sisters embraced and welcomed each other as sister/wives. Ezekiel blushed when Charity and Constance exchanged a kiss of their own. It may have been less passionate than that bestowed on their husband but it was still more than would normally be proper for two grown women.

Perhaps it was as well that Samuel had his back turned at the time while he replaced the family Bible in its place on the table.

And so, in the space of less than an hour, Ezekiel the strange and ungainly boy became Ezekiel the man — husband and father with, not one, but two devoted wives, a babe in arms and another on the way.