Story part 4

Sorry it is so late in the day, will update you on happenings tomorrow.

Petar was led through a large park surrounding the museum, with ruins he could not recognise to a final large field and the familiar stream running to the side. The Bear Camp stood in all its glory! People moved around inside and out, dressed as he knew, but yet not. The clothing was, different, made out of something that was neither leather nor fine weave of hairs and plant.
Still in a state of confusion, he quickly pointed out to Davi that the latrine should be, HAD been, much further back from the stream and partly sheltered by the trees to the rear of the building at the furthest end.
“I thought as much!” Davi laughed. “Did we get the rest of it right, Petar? And will you share your knowledge with us to make the place what it once was? Of course it is but a replica, the original now lies far under the museum foundations. This is as near as we could make it from excavations.”
“Excav-ations? What is this, Davi? And how do you speak my tongue?”
“Come, sit at the Hearth with us and we will tell you. We are FRIENDS, Petar, never forget that. I will try to guide you.”
Sat, feeling much more at ease in familiar surroundings, Petar was shown a tiny instrument that fitted inside the ear unseen and did not hurt. The others showed theirs.
“This is how we know your tongue, Petar. And it is how you will know ours and others as if they are your own.” He fitted the microscopic translation device in his ear and was amazed to find himself taking in another tongue.
“This … marvel, Davi. How many more shocks do I have to go through?!”
The company laughed. “Many, many more, friend from the far past,” Davi said, “first we must introduce ourselves and then try to explain exactly where you are, no, more WHEN.”
And Davi introduced his primary assistant in the Bear Camp Project, Mike: followed by three young women students in final year of their advanced degrees - Oriana, Robin and Beth. There were a few more attached to the project but they would be introduced later.
“Bear Camp, as you know it Petar, was founded in what is known as the Pleistocene Era, The Great Ice Age of the planet. Bear Camp as you see it today, reconstructed, now, lies in the year AD 2010. That is approximately 30,000 to 36,000 thousand years in your future.”
Petar looked up, dumbfounded. HOW many years????? He did not count in years, just cycles of seasons. How many was this?
“I cannot comprehend this, Davi. Why am I here?”
“Why indeed, Petar. I arrived in a similar fashion as you did - on a great bolt of lightning or light. I can only say that I myself come from a time frame several thousand years into this future. It has been far easier for me to integrate here than it will be for you.”
“Yes, you must go through school, Petar,” Oriana spoke, “And we women will be your teachers. Be prepared for some crash courses!”
School? Crash courses? His mind ran in circles. “But, I do not know ‘thousands’, counting is done with the fingers, or maybe toes if need be. I do not have words for more than a ‘great’ herd. And what is school?”
Beth laughed. “School is a place to learn, Petar.” She looked ruefully at the others. “Crash courses are not entirely appropriate Oriana. I at least did not appreciate the task - you will need to learn from extreme basics what our children do from the age of five, and school does not end until they are at least aged sixteen, usually into their twenties if they are bright.”
“Nor I Beth,” Oriana spoke. “So you have some numerical knowledge in simple form, Petar. Numbers are counted from ones to tens. tens to hundreds to thousands. Ten tens make one hundred, ten hundreds make one thousand; each multiple, or stage, adds another figure called a nought to the equation, or the whole.”
Petar was astonished to realise he was understanding, but he could not ‘see’ the number. “And 30,000 is - how many noughts?”
Oriana smiled at him. “You will be a fast learner Petar. 30,000 described as I just said is three tens followed by three noughts.”
He smiled back at her. “I cannot imagine this figure, Oriana, it is too … big.”
They all laughed softly. “The figure is too big for most people to visualise easily, Petar. Where I come from, numbers are worked by vast machines in noughts far beyond what people can make sense of. Thankfully you do not need this kind of skill to that level. I let the machines do the calculus while I concentrated on the method.”
“People, not mind you come from the future Davi?”
“Lordie, heavens NO. No-one knows but you and these four. And they know purely because I arrived right under their noses! And that’s the way it stays. You and I would be proverbial guinea pigs if it were known. The girls will explain that to you. School used to be a big bore even in my time, and it was high tech compared to this era. Learn, my friend, and learn QUICKLY.”
The rest of the day was spent tackling basic literacy. He could not progress until he understood letters and numbers. Petar’s head spun dizzily as he finally lay on a familiar sleeping platform covered with a familiar fur blanket. His dreams were those of an infant - symbols of letters ran round in confusion.
For all his ‘home’ lay so far in the past, Petar proved an excellent fast learner. Several months later he could pass outside without problem or notice. He enjoyed ‘field trips’ into the wider community immensely, but was careful to take one of the women with him in case problems arose. Many lessons were conducted this way and it was far more productive than plain books.
When tours had been taking place around the camp, Petar could be seen studying THIS world in the small anti-chamber that had been a storeroom, making ‘housekeeping’ lists if he was asked.
Davi had visited a friend ‘in high places’ as he called it, and Petar was now known to the system at large with a believable past and documents to prove it. He was officially seconded to the Project as a paid specialist and researcher. Anyone who wanted to know more about him was referred to ‘records’ in the town university.
Bear Camp, with minor adjustments made with Petar’s knowledge became a major tourist attraction long before the exhibition closed and another opened. Funding was granted indefinitely by overjoyed town officials who saw the potential of the place with greedy eyes.
This was even more a money spinner than the Roman ruins.