"Here we are!" Dylan gestured with his paw. "Camden Market!"
Desmond looked around the area, seeing a vast range of stalls selling food, clothing, jewelry, books and other kinds of products.
"This place looks like it has everything." Desmond said as he goggled every stall he could find.
"Pretty much." Dawkins agreed.
D.J. nodded in agreement, still wearing his headphones, listening to music.
The whole place was filled with people walking from stand to stand, running around, buying products, riding bikes, and taking photos.
"Stick close, Desmond. You could get lost here easily, especially if you're new to the place." Dylan told him then faced towards Delgado and D.J. "That goes for you too."
"Yeah, yeah, we know. Now, come on!" Delgado spurted out, dashing in front of his older brother. "Let's go have some fun!"
Delgado sprinted towards the market with everyone following after him.
"The market's quite popular with tourists." Dylan said.
"I can see why. It's not just from all the interesting items sold here, the feeling of this place is very appealing too." Desmond's head was spinning left and right, looking all over the place. "But I'll say, there sure are a lot of people."
"Wait until the weekend, it's a whole sea then." Dylan giggled.
"Oh wow!" Desmond exclaimed, seeing a sculpture of a colorful elephant head build on top of a restaurant. "How did they build that there?!
"And those shops have shoes on them!" Desmond looked at the shoe shops next to the restaurant.
"Interesting, isn't it?" Dylan gave a smile. "There's also a buffet restaurant with a dragon on it further on." Dylan pointed down the street.
"Well, let's go see it!" Desmond eagerly exclaimed.
"Didn't think he'd be that eager." Dawkins smiled at Dylan.
Dylan just rubbed his brother's head and gestured for them to continue. As they were walking down the street filled with lots of people, they reached a crosswalk.
Dylan saw that the pedestrian traffic light was glowing green and signaled for the others to cross the road.
Desmond, being at the back of the group followed them when suddenly he halted himself before he could step on the road. Feeling as if someone was following them, he spun his head, getting a short glimpse of a figure disappearing into the crowd of people.
That made Desmond contemplate if what he saw was just imagination or not, making him completely forget that he was yet to move from the sidewalk.
At that same time as Dylan, Dawkins, Delgado, and D.J. were making their way to the other side of the road, Dylan noticed the pedestrian light changing from green to red.
"Come on everyone, quickly!" Dylan exclaimed as he started running through the crosswalk, not realizing that Desmond was still back on the sidewalk.
Dawkins, Delgado, and D.J. began running as well, but Delgado failed to notice a crack in the crosswalk, getting one of his wheels stuck in it.
"Wha…? Oh, come on." He murmured to himself, trying to get his wheel out of the crack.
Desmond heard Dylan when he told everyone to hasten their speed. So, Desmond turned his attention back at them, only to see Delgado being stuck in the middle of the road.
At the same time, Dylan and his other brothers made it to the other sidewalk when a speeding car began approaching the crosswalk. As the driver saw the little pup on the road, he honked on his horn, trying to get him to move out of the way, but Delgado's wheel was firmly stuck in the crack.
Delgado, upon hearing the horn, jolted in alarm. He began panicking as he despairingly tried to get his wheel out.
"Dylan! DYLAN!" He shouted to his older brother, his voice cracking in panic.
Delgado's scream instantly grabbed the attention of Dylan and the others, who turned around seeing him stuck in the middle of the crosswalk. The driver of the quickly approaching car hit the brakes to try and stop the vehicle, but the gathered momentum made the car continue moving towards Delgado.
"DELGADO!" Dylan shouted, his heart beating like crazy in panic as he was about sprint towards his brother.
Everything went in slow motion for Delgado as his whole body froze in terror from the approaching car.
Out of nowhere, in a sprint, Desmond grabbed Delgado by the collar with his mouth, pulling him out of the crack and getting him and himself out of the car's way, centimeters separating them from the vehicle. Desmond didn't halt for a second, he continued sprinting to the other side of the road where Dawkins and D.J. were, their faces filled with shock at Dylan as he began sprinting towards them.
Desmond quickened his pace when he saw another car approaching Dylan. He collided into him, knocking him back to the sidewalk as he and Delgado crashed onto it as well.
Dylan stood up, quickly running to his little brother's side. "Delgado?! Delgado!?"
"Little brother, come on! Pull yourself together!" Dylan began shaking his frightened brother, trying to get him to speak.
"Your whole body's shivering!" Dylan felt as he was shaking his brother.
He embraced Delgado and gently started caressing him. "It's fine, you're safe now… Calm down."
Desmond stood himself up and shook his head.
"Is he alright?" he asked concerned. "He didn't get hurt, did he?"
Dylan started to inspect Delgado, looking carefully at every centimeter of his brother's shivering body. "Thankfully no…"
"Come on! We need to get him someplace to rest." Dawkins walked up to them along with D.J. worried.
"Yeah, right. Alright." Dylan agreed as he let Delgado go then looked him in the eyes. "Can you move?"
Delgado slowly nodded his head.
"Come on then." Dylan gently put a paw on Delgado's back and started lightly petting him.
They all started walking further into the market, trying to find some quiet place for Delgado to rest.
"Thank you, Desmond." Dylan looked him in the eyes.
"Don't mention it, Dylan. Let's just be grateful that I was still back on the sidewalk and not with you.
"Because I don't think you would have made it in time." Desmond gave him a serious look.
Dylan pulled Delgado closer to him when he heard that.
"Sorry! Didn't mean to upset you." Desmond looked to the other side.
"You're right though… So I'm thankful that you were there." Dylan gave him a small smile.
"Ye… Yeah, thanks, Desmond." Delgado murmured out, still a bit in shock.
"Are you feeling better now?" Dylan rubbed his brother's back gently.
"Y-Yeah… Yeah." Delgado replied.
"Can you tell us what happened?" Desmond asked. "Back there, why did you stop in the middle of the road?"
"My wheel got stuck in a crack and I couldn't pull it out." Delgado explained, then he looked at Desmond. "But… Why were you still behind?"
Dylan rose an eyebrow at Desmond. "Yeah, I also want to know."
"…Well, It looked as if...
"I just thought I saw something, that's all." Desmond answered as he turned his head back, looking around.
"Well, there's nothing there." Dylan turned around as well, checking behind them. "Must have just been your imagination?"
"I guess." Desmond agreed.
"There." Dawkins pointed to a small alleyway. "Let's let him rest there."
They went into the alleyway, Dylan and his brothers started calming Delgado down. Desmond sat next to them, raising his ears, trying to see if he could catch any kind of unusual noises.
After a couple of minutes, Delgado inhaled and exhaled then he turned to Dylan. "Okay, let's continue."
"You sure?" Dylan asked him with a worried look.
"I'm fine!" Delgado smirked at him as he tapped on the ground. "Good to go, really!"
"Quick to recover, huh?" Desmond padded his head. "Well, you heard him, guys."
Dawkins and D.J. smiled while Dylan exhaled in relief.
"But… Umm… Could we leave the part where I almost got ran over by a car out?" Delgado made an awkward smile. "I don't wanna worry mom and dad."
"Since you're all fine, I guess we could." Dylan pondered for a bit. "Though you know how I feel about lying."
They all went out of the alleyway and continued through the market. As they were walking, Delgado's stomach suddenly started growling.
"Hey, guys. You think we could go get something to eat." The pup tapped on the ground with his paw. "All that action made me work up an appetite."
"Good idea, Delgado. It's almost noon anyway, might as well get something in our stomachs." Dawkins agreed with his brother.
"Alright then, let's go eat!" Desmond exclaimed. "My treat."
Everyone's ears perked up, except Dylan's. "Oh no, Desmond. That's quite kind of you, but I can't have you pay—"
"Dylan! Please. You're giving me a tour here, I owe you lunch at least."
"…Okay, fine." Dylan rubbed his head. "But nothing too expensive."
"Sweet, free food!" Delgado exclaimed. "You're awesome, Desmond."
Desmond gave out a little chuckle.
"There's a couple of food stalls further on." Dawkins said then all of them continued walking down the street.
"Oh yeah! By the way, back there, you were so fast when you grabbed me and sprinted through the crosswalk." Delgado started wagging his tail. "You were like a bullet!"
"Well now…" Desmond petted Delgado on the head. "I can't be like a snail at a situation like that."
"We should race sometime." Delgado gave him and eager look. "How about it?!"
"We'll see." Desmond grinned at him.
"Hey! There's that dragon you were talking about, Dylan." Desmond pointed to a dragon sculpture colored in black and orange on top of a restaurant. "Ha! And look at that, next to it there's a big scorpion on top of the shop."
"You've guessed the shop's name too." Dylan giggled.
"There's so many clothes shops and stalls here." Desmond looked to his left then right. "Mind if I take a quick look."
"Not at all, go ahead. We'll wait." Dylan told him.
Desmond quickly went into one of the clothes shops. A minute later he came out wearing a sapphire-blue skipper cap with the Union Jack flag printed on the side.
"Oh, hey! Not bad. That looks pretty good on you." Dylan complimented.
"You think so? I thought it might look a bit dumb, but I liked it too much not to buy it." Desmond adjusted the cap.
"It fits you nicely Desmond, don't worry about it." Dawkins reassured.
"Thanks, guys!" Desmond smiled at them.
"Okay, yeah, it looks great on you. Now come on! I'm starving." Delgado spurt out, thumping on the ground impatiently.
They continued walking until they reached a small bridge. The view from the bridge was so charming that Desmond couldn't help but stop himself for a moment. Taking some time to enjoy the eye-catching landscape. Delgado sighed in annoyance, tapping fiercely on the ground. The others ignored him, letting Desmond enjoy the view.
After a few minutes, tough to Delgado they felt like hours, they continued through the bridge, until they reached the food stalls. After everyone got something to eat by virtue of Desmond. The dogs resumed their trip.
As they walked for a while trough the market, they arrived in an area filled with an ocean of people, it was so crowded that the only thing the dogs could see was legs moving left and right.
"Now listen and listen well!" Dylan sternly said to all of them, stomping hard with his paw. "Stick close together. Desmond, no stopping in your tracks until we're out of that crowd. Delgado and D.J. walk in front of me so that I can keep an eye on you."
As told, Delgado and D.J went in front of their older brother. Desmond to the back. The only one Dylan didn't order around was Dawkins, since Dylan knew he could trust him.
Moving through the crowd of people was very hard and slow, but everybody had to bear with it. Dylan took quick looks at Desmond from time to time, checking if he was still following while he also monitored the two pups in front of him. With each step it seemed like the crowd of people increased more and more, to the point of which Dylan was having a really hard time monitoring everyone.
Just then, Desmond heard a faint tinkling noise which made his ears perk up. He looked around his surroundings, trying to find the source of the sound, but it was very hard to even see anything past his muzzle from the huge crowd.
"Did any of you hear that?" Desmond asked, slightly alarmed. "A ringing noise, I think—"
"Not now, Desmond. Wait until we're out of the crowd and don't pause like last time!" Dylan told him sternly. "Dawkins bite my tail, D.J. bite Delgado's tail and I'll bite your tail. We'll make a chain. Like that no one's going to get lost."
"Desmond you do the same!" Dylan told him. His eyes still focused on the pups.
They all did as Dylan ordered, they were still moving at a slow pace, but at least now they didn't have to worry about losing each other. After what felt like an eternity, the dogs finally made it out of the crowd.
"That was awful, I hate it when that happens!" Delgado spurted out.
"You can let go of my tail now." He turned to D.J.
D.J. released Delgado's tail, Dylan and Dawkins did the same.
"You can say that again, it so very unpleasant." Dawkins agreed with his younger brother.
D.J. turned his head back, then he gestured to his brothers to look behind them.
"Ah! Where's Desmond?!" Dylan exclaimed. "He was supposed to be behind you Dawkins, didn't he bite your tail?"
"Now that you mention it, I didn't felt him biting it." Dawkins rubbed his cheek in thought.
"Is this crowd ever going to end?!" Desmond said, very vexed. Pushing himself through the crowd, he finally made it out.
"Well, that took forever…" He said annoyed. "Won't you agree, Dylan…?"
"Dylan…?!" Desmond said agitatedly. He started looking around the area. "D-Dawkins?!"
"Where did they go?" He started sweating. "Did I… Did I lose them in the crowd?"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Desmond yelled in irritation. "How am I supposed to find them now?!"
"I could help with that." A voice behind him offered.
Desmond spun around, jolting a little as he saw a cat that wore a dark red collar with a small bell on it sitting behind him, licking his paw.
"Who are you?" Desmond asked cautiously, keeping some distance from the cat.
"Desmond Dots, right?" The cat said, surprising Desmond, making him more nerves.
"No need to be so alarmed." The cat stood up.
"Come with me, I'd like to have a word with you." He said as he started walking towards a nearby bridge. Desmond was feeling reluctant to follow the cat, but he was too curious about the cat's knowledge of his name and so, he followed the cat, staring with caution right at him as he did.