The Duke wakes James in the hayloft and demands to know how James got out of his shackles. Easter is called in and immediately suspected. Huck admits that he freed James because he could not bear to let James sleep chained, but the Duke decides to punish someone anyway. When James speaks up, the Duke shifts his attention toward James, yet he still lashes Easter first, drawing blood.

The whipping is interrupted when a large white man named Wiley enters the livery, recognizes Easter as his own enslaved man, and angrily confronts the Duke for striking property that is not his. The Duke tries to justify himself by saying Easter helped James escape, but Wiley points out that James is still there. Huck then claims that James belongs to him, but Wiley dismisses Huck as a child and listens only partly to the group’s conflicting explanations.

Wiley inspects Easter’s wound and complains that the injury will keep Easter from working. Wanting compensation, Wiley asks whether James can blacksmith and shoe horses. Huck eagerly says James can do anything, and James cautiously confirms that he can likely do the work. Because Wiley needs labor more than he cares about the swindlers’ claims, he announces that the Duke and King may leave, but James will stay and work for him until Wiley no longer needs him.

Faced with Wiley’s threat to involve the sheriff, the Duke backs down and pretends to accept the arrangement, saying he and the King will handle business in the next town and return later for James. Huck tries to remain with James, but Wiley refuses and the Duke seizes Huck, calling himself Huck’s uncle to force the boy along. Before leaving, the Duke whispers to James that he now controls Huck, making clear that Huck is being used as leverage to stop James from running.