Maine serves as a setting of rugged refuge and demanding wilderness: Duncan lives in a cabin on its rocky coast, while a journey to Bradbury Mountain brings the group into dense woodland where even small disturbances are forbidden.

The Rocky Coast and Duncan’s Cabin

Duncan’s cabin stands on Maine’s rocky coast, within grounds that appear to accommodate more people than are present at the house. Ava sees a handful of motorcycles under the carport beside Duncan’s ancient 4×4 and an old black van; from the small number of bikes, she guesses that most of his entourage is camped elsewhere on the grounds. The vehicles make the property feel like an inhabited base rather than an isolated home.

Duncan welcomes Ava with a hug and an offer of a hot meal. His outward appearance suggests a woodland Santa, but his presence carries an authority that makes her want to tiptoe around him. She resists that impulse, though she acknowledges the contrast between his quiet welcome and the command she senses in him.

Bradbury Mountain’s Woodland

Bradbury Mountain is described as roughly eight hundred acres of forested national parkland. The group does not enter by a marked trailhead: they follow an access road that dwindles into two rough ruts, until the van can go no farther and they must continue on foot. Their passage through branches and plants makes the landscape an immediate practical constraint, not merely scenery.

Lock’s instructions emphasize the woods’ vulnerability and the care required to cross them. The group must leave lighters behind, stay on the path, avoid pulling leaves, and make no fires. He also tells Ezra not to chase the wildlife, naming squirrels, porcupines, groundhogs, and birds. As they carry the still-unconscious Olive onward, the protected woodland becomes a place where urgency must be balanced against restraint.

Narrative Significance

Together, the coastal cabin and the mountain woods give Maine two distinct roles in the story. Duncan’s property offers shelter and hospitality amid signs of a larger encampment; Bradbury Mountain requires the injured travelers to move carefully through a landscape they cannot treat as their own. In both settings, the land shapes the terms of refuge: one through Duncan’s commanding presence and household, the other through the rules that govern entry and passage.