Chapter 16: Cave discussions

[April 2373 AD – POV Timotheus Sinterguth – Bayern]

On the last Saturday in April, I had guided my youth group to the Sinterguth family cave in the 'Fränkische Schweiz', and the tour had gone reasonably well, with some interesting questions being asked. The tour guides, my relatives Daniel and Sabine, had done a great job, and when we got out of the cave, I saw mostly happy faces around me, with the notable exception of Heike, the youth group leader. I wanted to ask her if something was wrong, but did not get a chance for now. Apparently, the curiosity of some of the kids was not yet satisfied; while a simple, but good lunch was served in a nice rest area not far from the cave, Christine, the oldest girl in the group, asked:

"So, we have seen dripstones, but no paintings. Somebody mentioned the Altamira cave; are there no paintings at all in this cave?"

"Good question" Sabine, one of the tour guides, replied. "And the answer is no; we have found no indications whatsoever that our family cave was ever used as living area for ice age people or so. Have you heard about cave paintings somewhere?"

"Well, yes, I have read about the Altamira cave, and I have a book at home, and it is about how three or four brothers discovered a cave with ancient paintings somewhere in France, close to a town called … I don't recall the name, some French name, starting with 'L'."

"The 'Lascaux' cave?"

"That was the name, right."

"So, yes, this in one of the most famous caves with ancient paintings. It was indeed discovered by four young men, and a number of books have been written about it; they were good friends, though, no brothers. That cave had large caverns not far from the entrance, and we don't have this here."

"Close to the entrance? Why is this important?"

"Ice age people did not have battery powered torches, that's why. Yes, they could use torches made from wood and wax, but almost all cave paintings discovered anywhere have been found in locations not too far in from the entrance."

"So, we do not have any caves with ancient paintings at all in the area?"

"I didn't say that. For a long time none were found, but in the first half of the 21st century scientists found a few, mostly around the 'Fränkische Alb' and 'Schwäbische Alb'. None of those have paintings even remotely as great as those in Lascaux or Altamira, though."

"And why?"

"Girl, we don't know for sure. It is conceivable that the people in the late ice age didn't have enough spare time for that kind of hobby, as the climate here was colder than, for instance, in Spain."

Some of the other girls shuddered, and one asked:

"So, Ice Age, does that imply that there was ice all around here?"

"Only in winter, there was a lot of ice and snow. The polar caps were much larger, and for a long time almost all of Scandinavia and more was covered by thick ice. In summer, though, the environment must have been quite pleasant, and the few humans around had to hunt a lot to store lots of meat for the long winter."

"What did the vegetarians do?"

"Interesting questions. I have not thought about that, but they would not have survived if there were any. We do not believe that ice age people had a chance to live without eating lots of meat, and, if available, also fish. They probably also collected berries, mushrooms, and other plants, but only as supplements."

"Did they hunt dinosaurs?"

"Oh no, dinosaurs became extinct long before mankind showed up. They hunted mammoths, elks, buffalo, deer and such, and also smaller rodents."

"At least in winter they did not need a deep freezer, right?"

Some of the kids laughed, myself included, and Daniel replied:

"No, indeed not, it was cold enough outside to keep meat nicely frozen."

"How did they keep warm?"

"They did mostly live in caves, and we assume that they managed to collect enough firewood to keep campfires going all winter; besides, they obviously dressed warm, in lots of fur, for instance."

"But using animal fur for clothes is not right!"

"Good point, but at that time there weren't many options available. The few humans beings in Central Europe didn't make much of a dent into animal population at all. So, at that time, this wasn't a problem."

"But I have heard that they managed to make the mammoths go!"

"That's debated point, but yes, it is entirely possible that ice age people at least contributed to the extinction of the wooly mammoth. However, there are also studies showing that the latest generation of those mammoths, which lived about ten thousand years ago, may have had some genetic defects, and that hunting by mankind simply accelerated a natural process."

"So, why don't we just make them live again?"

"How would you do this?"

"They did the same with dinosaurs, in Jurassic Park!"

"Kids, this is fiction, and not really feasible for several reasons. It is trued that scientists were able to recover the genetic code from the wooly mammoth, but it is doubtful if that's good enough to actually recreate such an animal. Even if we succeeded and somebody financed all of that effort, where would the mammoth live? Our climate is much warmer than during the ice age, and it would be very difficult to find a proper habitat."

"But this would be so cool!"

"Well, you actually have a good pint here" I chimed in. "I recently read an article in a scientific paper, and in the early 21st century a group of people had planes to create what they called a 'Pleistocene Park' in northern Siberia, populated by animals like reindeer, bisons, and eventually, they hoped, re-created mammoths."

"Wow! Did they succeed?"

"Only partially, sadly. The plan was very long term, and the increasing climatic issues in the 21st century did not make that easier. Oddly, the Great War and the sharp reduction of human population world wide kind of did something similar on its own, though without mammoths. The Siberian wilderness has more animals nowadays than it used to have like in the late 20th century."

There were some mor erelated questions, I had to admit that I was fascinated by the interested 'my' kids were showing here. The discussion had moved from dripstones to caves in general, to ice age people and mammoths, and more. We were about done with eating now, and Sabine suggested:

"For those of you who'd like to learn more about those topics, there are a number of good books to read or, for those who prefer digital media, documentations to watch. We also have a number of visitor centers in the area, and they provide some information on related topics as well."

Heike, the main youth group leader, had been very quiet during the tour, and I finally managed to ask her if she had enjoyed the visit and if something was wrong. She hesitated to respond, but finally admitted in subdued voice:

"Timotheus, I hate to say that, but I am little bit claustrophobic and I don't like dark rooms. It could have been worse, but my nerves fluttered most of the time."

"Why didn't you mention that before? You could have waited outside!"

"You are so right, but I thought I'd manage, and I did managed; I just wasn't able to really enjoy the tour. I thought that over time I could get used to such an environment, but I guess that I was wrong. Don't worry, it's not your fault."

I felt sorry for Heike anyway, and I really should have asked everybody prior to the trip if they had any issues with dark caves and such. However, it was entirely possible that Heike would not have mentioned her problems even if directly asked. While Daniel and Sabine guided us back to the train station, I looked at her several times to check if she was feeling better. However, I was not good at all in interpreting human facial expressions, specifically not female ones, and thus I could not really tell. Soon a train arrived to bring us back to Behringersmühle, and while we were once more enjoying the ride on the narrow track railroad, Michael, the older boy in the youth group, got me involved in a discussion on railroad technology and such. Apparently his older brother and he owned a small model railroad system at home, which was quite rare nowadays, with almost every adolescent mostly dabbling in digital media and computer games. Almost for the entire short trip, he told me about the setup and how exciting he considered it to actually have something real moving compared to just pixel on the screen.

I had seen videos of such systems, and I recalled that they had restored some long and very detailed recordings of a huge model railroad system in Hamburg. That city had been Germany's second largest settlement prior to the apocalypse, and of course the remnants of the city, and by implication of that model railroad system, were now more than one hundred meters below sea level.

Michael had never seen a large system in operation, and I did not know if somebody had bothered to rebuild one, but I promised to find some links to good old documentation on that topic for him when I was back home; here, on the train, I preferred looking outside over watching my tricorder screen.

Later on, when we were on the larger train back to Erlangen, Corinna, the smart young girl, addressed me:

"My oldest sister would have liked to see the cave, too."

"You have another sister?" I asked back. The older sister, Christine, was one of the oldest girls in the group, but obviously Corinna was talking about yet another sister, one I apparently did not know about.

"Yes, Primrose. She likes nature, and she would have loved to be with us today. She turned fifteen last June."

Primrose? That was not a common name at all for a girl, at least not in Europe, and of course I thought of my cousin in District Twelve first. Apparently, the girl with the same name who had been reaped for the 74th Hunger Games in Panem many decades ago, but did not have to go because her older sister had volunteered for her and ultimately even won the games together with her district partner, had been a popular name giver. Quite a few history books had references to and details about the events of the 74th Hunger Games, the 75th Hunger Games, and the final and successful rebellion afterwards. While the original Primrose Everdeen had never been in the games themselves, she had become widely known as she had been chosen originally and for her medical work during and after the rebellion.

"Is she as pretty as you and Christine are?" I asked with a smirk. Both Corinna and her sister Christine had slim bodies, blond hair and blue eyes, and I expected both of them to develop into real beauties when growing up. There was nothing wrong with calling an eight year old girl pretty, and indeed, Corinna liked that a lot and smiled back:

"Even more so! You might like her. Actually, she might like you, too, as you are one of the few people being tall enough for her."

"Tall enough? What do you mean?"

I was actually quite tall at about 195 cm, and Corinna explained:

"She has had a growth spurt in the last few years and reached 184 cm, and she is now taller than most boys her age, which makes them keep their distance usually. That's more than okay for her, though, I think, as she is also quite shy. We hope that she has finally stopped growing now."

I had actually seen a very tall blonde girl looking like a sister to Corinna and Christine a few times at church services, and I vaguely recalled seeing a very tall and pretty blonde girl at the confirmation celebration one year ago, too. To be honest, a blonde girl being that tall had even caught my 'nerd' attention, and seeing that Christine, the middle sister, was also quite tall already for her age, the reported size of the oldest sister seemed to be somewhat understandable. However, something in Corinna՚s statement had sounded odd:

"Wow, that's really tall, for a girl of that age, I think. But why did you say 'tall enough for her'? For what exactly?"

"Well, for dating and courting her, of course!"

What? No way!

"Corinna, I can and will not date a fifteen year old girl!"

While this was certainly a good answer, I did not really want to discuss with an eight year old girl that I did not date, not because I did not like girls, but mostly out of shyness and fear of rejection. Approaching pretty girls was something I just was not really brave enough to do; the more pretty, the more difficult for me. Besides, at age fifteen, she'd really be too young for me to date anyway. I found myself quite happy with the young girls in my group. I could talk to them quite well without much shyness, and I'd have to live with that for the time being.

When I was back home in the evening, I wrote another letter to my cousin and told him about what Corinna had said about her oldest sister. Just a few days later, I also received another letter from my cousin. He wrote:

"I met the girl from the plane crash again later on, and Rue now lives with her grandparents on a farm close to Appacolia. Her mother had died a few years ago, and she lost her father and sister in the plane crash. She is a full orphan, and I feel so sorry for her. Rue has bad nightmares on a regular basis, and so far only Ruth and I seem to be able to comfort her fully, although her grandparents really love her and care for her. Ruth and Rue are now best friends, although Rue is very shy with most people. But she loves to cuddle up to Ruth and me. By the way, her last name is Madison; isn't that the same last name the Rue in the 74th Hunger Games had and the same name the family this Rue you met last year or so also had?"

I just shook my head when I read all of that. I knew Ruth, of course, and when I had visited my cousin in the past and we shared a large bed so that we could take our time to talk, Ruth had sometimes come in in the early morning and had no problem cuddling with both of us. She was so cute, and I loved her like she was my own sister. And how interesting to read that he had met a girl with the name Rue, just like I had not long ago.

I recalled a time, about three years ago, when Ruth had been just weeks away from starting school. I had been at my cousin's place and we had been doing a few smaller hiking tours in the areas around. We had just been planing a tour which was going to last for a week at least, when Ruth got real sick. It was not live threatening, but she needed a lot of care, and the doctor who treated her sent her home, as he claimed that the familiar environment was more important for such a young girl than the hospital care. A nurse came twice a day to do some checks, and above and beyond that Ruth just needed someone around her for talking and cuddling. My mother was irritated as she had a few important deadlines coming up in her part time job, and my father was definitely not the cuddle person at all; neither was Peeta. Primrose was away, visiting a relative, and Ruth insisted to be with Tim and Tim. Mom claimed that we should ignore her as we had our trip planed, but my cousin and I looked at each other, and we fully agreed about what the priorities were. Ignoring my mother, well, not really ignoring her, but kind of insisting at least, we set up Ruth's bed in my cousin's room, and she was carefully placed there. My room was just next door, and we agreed in a few short words that we would take care of Ruth together. My cousin had started, staying close to Ruth and in the bed next to her, and I had some time off. When he was exhausted, because Ruth frequently woke up, he called me in, and we switched places. This was totally all right for the little girl, as she loved me almost as much as her own brother. We cuddled up to her, hugged her, talked to her, listened to her, prepared food for her, washed her, and much more, for about two weeks, until she fully recovered and was healthy again, just about one week before her first day of school. And all of this was not really a load for us; we both dearly loved Ruth, and taking care of her had been demanding, but a pleasure. Ruth was the best little sister ever, even with her not really being my sister, but my cousin.

About the family name 'Madison', yes, he had a point. Was this just coincidence or was there some relation behind all of that? I would have loved to be able to ask 'my' Madison family about it, but they were gone and had stopped to return my letters, for a reason unknown to me. My cousin's letter had a few photos showing him, Ruth, and Rue together, and this girl really looked cute. She was indeed just about Ruth's size, with no female curves whatsoever, and nobody would have guessed that she was thirteen years old.

With looks like that, it was likely that their respective parents had named them after the Rue in the 74th Hunger Games. I mean, even now, about a century after the last Game had been taking place, the tribute names and those of the siblings had been very popular. For instance, Primrose was not really a common name for a girl at all, but since Primrose Everdeen, sister of Katniss Everdeen, had been reaped and saved by her sister, a lot of parents with blond and blue eyed girls named their babies Primrose, and Rue was somewhat popular for dark-skinned and dark-haired girls; to a certain extent those names were simply fashionable.

However, the Rue my cousin had met looked almost exactly like the Rue in the 74th Hunger Games – I opened a few images on my tablet PC and placed them next to the photo, and the resemblance was striking. Of course, the Rue in Appacolia looked like nine or so, but she did look like the tribute Rue, just about three years younger. There just had to be some kind of relationship, and I wrote back about that to my cousin. Naturally, I also added a few words about the cave tour and the suggestion Corinna had brought up. I would not normally talk about things like that to anybody, but my twin cousin was different, and we shared almost everything, including very personal thoughts and issues.

As a matter of fact, since Corinna had mentioned her oldest sister, I could not help myself and tried to imagine an older version of Corinna and Christine; with both of them being blond and slender, images of a blond haired and long legged beauty manifested themselves in my mind, and while those mental images were quite nice, they were also very distracting.

[Author's Notes: Please let me know how you like the story so far, and post commentsif something is not explained well enough, like some German terms!]