a/n: I know what you're thinking: what's this? A new chapter to Going Wodwo! It can't be! Oh, but it is, my faithful readers! I know I promised this ages ago, but...sorry... :( It's here now!

I finally have an idea of what's out in the woods, so hopefully the last few chapters will go more quickly. I know: you've heard it all before. I really mean it this time!

I'd love some reviews, if anyone's still hanging on. :)

This story features the happy return of my much-missed beta, chiroho.

Chapter 8: The Woods

I'll find a tree as wide as ten fat men
Clear water rilling over its gray roots
Berries I'll find, and crabapples and nuts,
And call it home.
-Neil Gaiman, "Going Wodwo"

"You're gonna want this," JJ said as she passed Prentiss a can of bug spray. "Also, make sure you tuck your pants into your socks. That way ticks can't crawl up your legs."

"Ticks?" Prentiss looked faintly green. She thought she'd been coping pretty well so far. They'd been hiking for a little over an hour, and she was extremely grateful for all the hours she put in at the gym. The woods around them were quiet; the leaves were just starting to turn; and it was all actually rather pretty—not that Prentiss was becoming a nature lover or anything absurd. But she had been relaxing a bit, and now JJ was throwing the idea of icky, crawling, blood-sucking ticks at her.

"Don't worry; it's a little late in the year for ticks," Hotch assured her.

"Right," she said. Not feeling much better, she let the group pass her on the trail as she bent to do as JJ suggested. She sprayed almost the entire contents of the can all over, concentrating especially on her ankles.

Hotch had stopped the group at the next bend in the trail; he didn't want to lose sight of Prentiss. They waited, sipping water from canteens and chatting, and Morgan almost choked as Prentiss' sharp, sudden cry pierced the peaceful morning.

"Emily!" he called, pulling his gun and hurrying toward her, Hotch and JJ right on his heels. "Prentiss, what's wrong?"

She was sitting on the trail as though she'd been crouched and had fallen backwards. She sat up and brushed dirt and loam from her palms. "I…nothing…it was nothing." Her eyes were wide and her face was pale. It didn't look like nothing.

Hotch offered a hand, and she accepted gratefully. Morgan narrowed his eyes; that wasn't normal.

"I know this isn't your usual territory, but something obviously startled you," JJ said.

Prentiss took a long pull from her canteen. "I feel like a dumbass."

"Uh huh. So what's new?" Morgan flashed her a grin when she glared. The smile faded when he noticed the hand holding her canteen was shaking. He reached out and took it from her; she let him, and his concern returned all over again. "What happened, Em? Something."

She let out a breath; indicated a tree just off the trail. "I was looking at this."

Hotch's eyes narrowed as he leaned closer. There was something carved into the bark, a symbol like—maybe, if he squinted—a fang-filled mouth as rendered by a five-year-old. "What the hell is that?" he asked.

"No idea," JJ murmured from beside him. "I've never seen anything like it."

"That wasn't what scared me," Prentiss said.

Hotch felt JJ jump at the sound of Prentiss' voice. They were all wound too tight, he thought; someone was going to get hurt if they didn't calm down.

"I'd hope not," Morgan commented.

Prentiss gave an impatient sigh. "I was standing here looking at it, and I swear I saw something move out there." She gestured toward the woods.

Hotch and JJ glanced at each other and then cast a long look toward Prentiss.

"I know, I know. It's the woods. Bears and wildcats and shit."

"Squirrels," Morgan offered. "Rabid, scary squirrels."

"Would you shut up?" she snapped. "It wasn't a fucking squirrel. I saw a face, a man's face. He was just standing out there…staring at me. He had this giant beard and crazy eyes. I know crazy eyes when I see them."

"Where?" Hotch asked.

Prentiss pointed again, and Hotch and JJ stepped away from the trail to investigate. "Here," JJ said. "These branches are broken, and look."

Hotch knelt to examine the torn moss; it was still damp. "Fresh. But there aren't any tracks leading away."

She crouched beside him. "An animal, maybe? And she got spooked?"

Hotch glanced over his shoulder; watched Morgan and Prentiss watching them. "Those branches are broken off pretty high. What kind of animal is that tall, except maybe a bear on its hind legs?"

"If a bear were rearing, it probably would've charged her," JJ agreed. "And we'd smell bear. Or cougar, or even buck. No way a doe's that tall."

Hotch rubbed the back of his neck and looked around in irritation. "I'm not in the mood for games."

"Did you find something?" Prentiss called. She wondered what they were whispering about.

Hotch and JJ shared another look before they rose and went to rejoin Morgan and Prentiss. "Something was there, but there aren't any real tracks," she said before explaining what they'd found.

"So what does that mean?" Morgan asked.

"Someone knows how to cover his trail, I guess," Hotch said after a brief pause.

"Right…but…if he were that good at it, why is there any evidence he was there at all?" Prentiss asked. "Why break branches and scrape away moss where he was standing if he could move through the woods that well?"

"Pretty obvious, right?" Morgan said. "He wanted us to know he was there, but he also wants us to realize we won't see or hear him comin' and goin'."

"In other words, he could be anywhere," Prentiss said.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Hotch cautioned. "He didn't threaten you, did he?"

"No. He just stared, like bug-eyed and freaky as hell."

"Maybe he lives up in the mountains somewhere, and he's not used to seeing people. You might have scared him as much as he scared you," JJ said.

"Great. From Blair Witch to The Hills Have Eyes. It just keeps on gettin' better," Prentiss said with a shake of her head.

Hotch shifted his weight and checked his watch. "We should keep going. It's another half mile to the turnoff to the Hanging Tree, and we need to get there by dark."

"Yeah," Prentiss said. "I want a nice big fire going by the time the sun goes down."

Morgan snapped several pictures of the strange carving, and Hotch stepped off the path to get a few shots of the broken branches and scuffed moss. "Let's get moving," he said as he pocketed the digital camera.

Prentiss hitched her pack a bit higher and, with a last glance over her shoulder, followed Hotch and JJ along the trail.

The so-called Hanging Tree was even more impressive in person than it had been on film. It was a huge oak with a trunk split like it had been struck by lightning at some point in its ancient history. Both sides were distorted with knobs and protuberances, and even city-girl Prentiss found herself awed by its sheer presence.

"How old is this thing?" Morgan asked as he rested a palm against the rough bark.

Hotch glanced up from the tent stake he was pounding in. "There used to be another tree about that same size, but it fell a few years ago. They put a slice of it up in the town hall, and they have the rings dated. About three-quarters in, the date Columbus landed is marked. Something like 800 years, from acorn to that."

"It doesn't look like there'd be any limbs low enough to hang someone," Prentiss remarked.

"It's just a legend," JJ said as she returned with an armload of deadfall and kindling. "I doubt it has any real basis in fact."

"But isn't that how legends are made?" Morgan said. "Rossi always said nothing grows without a seed. That means trees," he nodded toward the enormous oak, "and stories, too."

"You knew David Rossi?" Hotch asked.

Morgan knelt to help him with the next peg. He'd never pitched a tent in his life, but how hard could it be? "He was one of my professors at Northwestern. He taught folklore."

"I can't see you in a folklore class, Morgan," Prentiss said. She was helping JJ sort the firewood (with copious guidance from the ranger), and keeping one eye out for ticks and wild men of the woods.

"I was a freshman; I hadn't decided on a major, so I just took a bit of everything." The whole tent situation was proving far more difficult than he'd anticipated, so with a little grimace he ceded the field to Hotch.

"We have to dig a pit, like this," JJ was explaining to Prentiss. "And we should line it in flat stones. I'm surprised there aren't any still around here; Rossi's team had a fire."

"Maybe they just didn't know," Morgan suggested.

"No," JJ said. "In this county, no one is granted a camping permit without passing a basic safety course. Fire safety is the main part of it."

"I thought they didn't have a permit to camp here," Prentiss said.

"They had a permit to camp," JJ clarified. "This just isn't a designated camping area. But this time of year…it's pretty dry up here. There's no way they'd have a fire without taking basic precautions."

Prentiss had been digging through her bag, and she emerged with a triumphant smile. A plastic bag dangled from her hand. "We better find those rocks," she said, "or these'll all go to waste."

"Marshmallows? Where the hell did you get those?" Morgan said.

She shrugged. "I don't know much about camping, but I've seen enough movies to know it's not really a campout without marshmallows." Her face went pensive. "I'm not sure about the stick thing, though. Is that really sanitary?"

"I think I found our missing rocks," JJ said from across the clearing.

Something in her tone sent them all scurrying to join her, and they found themselves staring in uneasy silence. The collection of flat stones were stacked in a neat pyramid, and the capstone sported the same carving as they'd seen on the tree earlier that day.

"Well that…I mean, Rossi or someone in his team might've done that. After they…put out the fire and whatnot," Prentiss suggested with a decided hitch in her voice.

"If that were the case, don't you think they would've fallen over by now? It's not exactly Roman engineering," Morgan said.

"The carving's fresh," Hotch said. "The rocks are blackened from the fire, but the lines of the carving are pristine."

"Relatively fresh," JJ said. "It wasn't done yesterday, but it was done after these were used in a fire pit."

Prentiss let out a long breath; wrapped her arms around her chest and tried to suppress a shiver. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

"Ditto," Morgan said grimly.

The warm afternoon was waning into a cool evening. Shadows were beginning to pool beneath the trees. And somewhere far away, an animal gave a long, bone-chilling, mournful howl.

bum, bum, buuum! Tune in next time to see what fate awaits our heroes. And where the heck are Rossi & co. anyway?