Has anyone ever wondered this? They trust him enough to tell him that the children are the Jewels, and he helps them plan their escape to the Ice Prairies, and he seems to know all their secrets, so they must be very good friends indeed! But he's not from Anniera. Is he an old friend of Podo's from over 50 years ago? He doesn't seem like the kind of person Podo would have been friends with back then. Did Nia seek him out because she needed help teaching the children their THAGS? Book 1 does say that Oskar was the one who taught Janner to love books and gave him his first journal. Maybe Nia and Podo figured out that Oskar was involved with the resistance and that made them start to trust him?
What do you think? Try to avoid any major spoilers beyond book 1!
If you read WFS Tales, you see that Edd Helmer and Oskar are mentioned! And Podo was also born in Glipwood, so I’m wondering if they kind of met and just became friends. But Podo ALSO left to the Stranders and eventually the pirates, so… if they were friends… was there some kind of betrayal there? If there was, Podo nor Oskar display any throughout the books. But you gotta wonder if Podo came into Glipwood with Nia and the Jewels and asked Oskar for help. Oskar probably hasn’t seen him since he left with the Stranders, so that must’ve been epic.
This would be a fun short story.
pgs. 208, 222 OtEotDSoD, Podo and Oskar call each other 'old friend[s]'. Also, Oskar also clearly knew about the Jewels before they knew themselves. Because of this, they surely would have known about his involvement in the resistance, especially because they already knew about the hidden weapons cache underneath Anklejelly.
My guess is that they found Oskar was with the resistance and got his help to hide all of the stuff down there very soon after they arrived in Glipwood, where it spent the next 9 years quietly waiting.
I believe it was due to my excellent taste in literature! 😁 (jk)
It’s an interesting question. 🤔 I wonder how much Oskar and Podo knew one another from before, because like you said, they aren’t exactly the type of people that would hang out together. 😂
For Miss Andrea only:
Ruth has informed me that she wants to hand the site over to you since she's leaving. I would have you know that her father discussed handing the site over to us back in February, if she had to leave.
I have always wanted this backstory! Perhaps they knew he was part of the resistance?
Being the only bookstore in Glipwood would mean the children would frequent there often for schooling and recreational activity. I think Oskar happened to find common ground with Janner and took him under his wing and the rest of the family followed
That is an interesting question. It might just be because it's a small town and small town people are easier to get to know than large town people. But the dodginess with smuggling books and weapons could've been a red flag, since people who engage in secret activity tend to act strangely.