The eye-gazing didn't go unnoticed by Julian either, who found it increasingly uncomfortable to have the eyes of the shop-keeper and his wife on him. More so considering he knew them personaly, Mr. and Mrs. Rook, who probably would let his parents know of the little scene unfolding itself. 

Julian couldn't help but be impressed by the Dakota woman. Or it could have been that he was still figuring out how to get her to actually help him, and utterly failing. Either way, the way she stood up to him was something he had seen in few women around those parts. They'd might not actually help you or do what you ask of them, but at least they would hear you out. The Dakota however, she wasn't having it. 

Again she spoke, and again it was something about her voice that was warm and excotic. What she said however, was far from being warm and what Julian later could call angel-like. Whatever it was Julian had said, she wasn't impressed by it. In fact, her words were a mix of insults and proud rejection, whatever you'd call it. 

Lakota, not Dakota as Julian had called her. That was the first thing she shot back at him with, clearly insulted by what he had said. And to be frank, that might actually have been right, Julian got all the different tribes of Indians mixed up. So far, he wasn't off to a good start. And she only continued on talking him down, even if she was a few inches shorter than him. Even if she was just an Indian, he felt embarresed. 

And yet, while she spoke down to him, he had to acknowledge one thing about her; her stunbornness and pride only gave her already good looks more depths, so to speak. He had seen Indians before, but he had to admit that her long, dark hair and red-ish skin was for a lack of better words, 'Pretty'. Julian didn't know all to many words to describe that, but it was enough. 

"What, no. No!" Julian's cheeks had turned a darker shade of pink after what the Dakota...Lakota said. Regardless of what she could possible suspect of him, having his way with her like that had never crossed his mind. It just felt wrong, strange and wrong when she said it, especially when he had never actually done 'that'. Was that she thought the white man wanted? "That's not what I meant, Da...Lakota. I need help to find our stolen horses, nothing else!" 

The pinkish color soon faded away from Julian's cheeks as he focused on what he actually wanted from her. "I don't know if you've heard, but half the town's horses was stolen last night. I intend to do something about that, but I need help. And you need your brother for protection, I assume, so don't we help each other out?"