Jonas

Today's sale item is and elf, he is very useful around the home, very good with children, and has a very sunny disposition.
'Can we buy him daddy, please, please, we don't have an elf'
'You have everything you need, why would you want an elf'
'It's exactly because I don't have one that I want one, please!'
Eventually, Petal persuaded her father, James Brent, that they needed an elf, and he bought him. Elves were rare, and James liked nothing more than collecting rare items, so it wasn't a hard sell for Petal, even if her father made her work for it. However, he wasn't sure how Sophie was going to take to another pair of feet running around the house.

He was right, 'You bought what! How am I supposed to keep an eye on him along with everything else I have to do.
'I think we should treat him more as staff'
'So do we pay him?'
'I don't know, perhaps we should ask him and see what he wants'

To be honest, James hadn't even spoken to the elf, they'd all just sat in the limousine together, James and Petal chatting together, ignoring the extra person sitting in the corner; or trying to at least. So, Sophie and James went to find the elf, he was still sitting in the hall on his cases where they'd left him. His pinched features still looked content; he didn't seem at all bothered by being sold, moving to a new house, or any chaos this may cause.

James and Sophie invited them into their office and talked at length to him about his experiences, what he was able to do and how much they could pay him. It was a simple discussion, Jonas, as they discovered he was called, would, in fact, fit in with their staff well, as he could turn his hand to most things, including mechanics. This meant he was able to help with the maintenance of James' large collection of cars.

Jonas settled in well and Petal especially liked him, he would spend many hours telling her stories of his ancestry, where he came from and how he'd love to return to his homeland someday. Petal said to Jonas one evening after he'd given her a beautiful description of what his home looked like, how nice it would be to see his homeland too.

The next morning both Petal and Jonas were missing, she would never be found. Jonas was only waiting for her to ask!