Heart of Stone: HPHM Year 6

To Spy on a Spy

It turned out Badeea's painting session was not on Tuesday or Wednesday, but Thursday. Sarah arrived in the courtyard, a few minutes late as usual, to find a small group of her friends in front of canvases. In front of them, standing on a raised platform, was Penny, wearing the same dress she'd donned for the Celestial Ball, her golden hair tied in a beautiful half-up halo braid.

"Hey there, Cursebreaker!" Andre called, waving his paintbrush to her.

"Hey, Andre. I didn't realize you'd be here."

"Badeea invited me. I've done a lot of simple figure drawings for my outfit designs, but I've never tried painting a model before. It should be fun."

Penny had climbed down from the platform to give Sarah a hug.

"I haven't seen much of you lately," she said.

"Busy as always," she said with a shrug. In her heart, she couldn't believe Penny was the mole, but she was still trying to limit her contact with the Circle as much as possible. She didn't want R to know of her immediate plans if she could possibly help it.

By this time, Badeea, Barnaby, and Alanza had approached.

"Glad you could make it," said Alanza with a wink. "Ready to have some fun?"

"Wouldn't miss it," she said. "Though I hope you aren't expecting me to actually paint something recognizable. I'll probably just end up deeply offending Penny."

Penny shook her head with a smile.

Badeea said, "Nonsense. I've seen you paint before. You have a natural talent. And, I'll be here to offer help."

"Yeah," said Barnaby, holding up fingers that were already covered in green paint, though Penny's dress was yellow and white. "If I can do it, anyone can!"

Badeea had Penny return to her platform, then helped Sarah set up a canvas. Sarah placed herself in between Alanza and Barnaby, the better to study Alanza's behavior. Alanza raised an eyebrow. Or had Sarah imagined it? Trying not to act suspicious felt like the most suspicious thing she could do. No wonder her previous spying mission in Knockturn Alley had gone so poorly.

Badeea offered a few initial instructions, and the group began painting. There were all so focused on their work that they didn't talk much. Sarah did her best to appear solely interested in her painting, but she snuck glances at Alanza whenever she could. For her part, the young witch seemed completely at ease, smiling as always as she added layers of paint to her canvas.

Sarah flinched as something wet splashed on her cheek. She turned to the left to see Barnaby splashing gobs of paint to his piece with reckless abandon.

"Careful, B. You're getting painting all over me."

"Sorry," he said with a sheepish grin. He was also covered in specks of paint. "This is my art style. Badeea calls it a Feverish Pasta."

"That's feverish impasto, Barnaby," Badeea explained.

"Lucky for me you chose to stand there," Alanza laughed. "You are my human shield."

Sarah half-smiled back. While she was enjoying time with her friends, she was getting no clues as to whether or not Alanza was a spy. Was that a bad thing? Did every outing with her mates have to have a double-motive?

"What do you think, Cursebreaker?" said Andre from the other side of Alanza, turning his canvas so she could get a good look.

Sarah nodded, impressed. Andre's artistic talent clearly carried over into painting. He hadn't yet added in the fine details for Penny's face, but she was clearly recognizable and much less sloppy than Sarah's own work in progress.