is livid when he figures out that Sarah slept with a white man. In a fit of rage, he drives her from the house, whipping her as she tries to escape. She eventually gets away from him, coming back to the house only to retrieve Ruth. She sleeps outside, away from Silas' grasp, and resolves to stop the white man from confronting him the next day. She is unable to head the salesman off, however, and when he arrives at the house, Silas whips and then shoots him. Sarah returns to Silas and tries to convince him to escape with her, but he relents that he can never be free in a white man's world despite all his effort. Sarah takes Ruth back into the hills, where she watches a white mob descend on Silas, attempting to kill him first with bullets and then by lighting the house on fire. The house burns down around Silas, who does not attempt to escape after having killed as many white men as he could. Fire and Cloud "Fire and Cloud" follows a preacher, Taylor, as he tries to save his people from a wave of starvation. Denied food aid by the white authorities, Taylor must return empty-handed to his church. There he finds a tricky problem. He has been talking about marching in a demonstration with communists, and they have come to visit him in one room. In another room, the mayor and the police chief have arrived to talk to him. Taylor has a history with the mayor, who has done him favors in exchange for his securing peace and order among the black community. However, if the mayor finds out about the communists, Taylor will be in trouble. First Taylor talks to the communists, who try to convince him to further commit to marching by adding his name to the pamphlets they distribute. Taylor gives them only vague answers. He then talks to the mayor and the sheriff, who try to convince him not to march. Again, Taylor is unsure of what to do as he feels that adding his name will threaten not only himself but his community. He successfully gets both groups out of the church without their paths crossing. Then he talks to his deacons. One among them, Deacon Smith, has been plotting to depose Taylor and take over the church. A car pulls up, and Taylor