Brockden's Landing
Black Water (Joyce Carol Oates Edition)Brockden's Landing is the ferry landing for the route from Grayling Island to Boothbay Harbor, and the destination The Senator and Kelly Kelleher are trying to reach when their car crashes. Its 8:20 p.m. ferry gives their hurried departure a precise deadline; the obsolete road they take instead leads them through an unmarked hairpin turn and into water neither occupant knew was there. The landing is thus more than a point on their itinerary: the pressure to reach it helps propel them toward the accident, while their failure to arrive becomes inseparable from Kelly’s struggle to survive.
Setting and Route
The pair leave Buffy St. John’s party at 17 Derry Road at approximately 7:55 p.m., allowing about twenty-five minutes to reach Brockden's Landing and catch the 8:20 ferry. They are hurrying, and The Senator has had another drink or two. The timing gives their drive urgency, but it does not mean they are initially lost: The Senator is headed in the correct general direction for the landing.
The mistake is a wrong turn. The Senator takes Old Ferry Road, a badly rutted sandy route that has long been unused since a new paved Ferry Road was built. The turn for the old road lies three-quarters of a mile beyond the turn for the newer one, and there is no longer a sign identifying it. At dusk, the choice is described as understandable even without alcohol; nonetheless, the neglected route makes the journey markedly more dangerous.
The Missed Arrival
The plan to catch the 8:20 ferry follows an earlier intention to leave Buffy’s at 7 p.m. for a 7:30 departure. A new carload of guests arrives, The Senator remains engaged in conversation and has another drink, and the earlier ferry becomes doubtful. Kelly reassures herself that there will be another ferry, but the change in schedule means the pair set off late and are pressing onward as dusk deepens.
By the time the Toyota reaches the desolate area southeast of Brockden's Landing, Kelly fears they will miss the 8:20 crossing. They are still traveling toward the landing, but their route has carried them onto the disused road. At approximately 8:15 p.m., the car reaches the apogee of a hairpin curve and plunges into a creek, stream, or river whose presence neither The Senator nor Kelly had known about. The narrative’s uncertainty over the waterway’s exact name contrasts with the precision of the ferry deadline and accident time.
The Road's Hidden Hazards
The danger is not signposted. About thirty feet ahead of the curve stands a narrow wooden bridge made of badly weathered planks, but there is no warning of the bridge or, more urgently, of the dangerous bend leading to it. Old Ferry Road is no longer maintained by Grayling Township and should have been officially closed. The crash occurs on a route whose hazards have been left in place without adequate warning.
The surrounding marsh compounds the road’s risks and obstructs orientation. Kelly sees swamp water spread on both sides of the narrow road, reflecting the headlights like shards of mirror among tangled vegetation. In the deeper, desolate stretch, mosquitoes crowd the air, rushes sway in the wind, and leafless, smooth-barked tree trunks look like scarred remnants. The landscape is not merely remote scenery: the unseen water at the curve is the immediate threat that turns a mistaken route into a submerged-car emergency.
From Destination to Disaster
The ferry is the practical objective that organizes the drive, but the closer the pair get to the landing, the more their journey depends on a hazardous shortcut. Their Toyota is moving fast on a bouncy, rutted road when it skids, breaks through a guardrail, and enters the water. The car sinks rather than floating; black water washes over its hood and windshield, and the passenger side buckles in around Kelly.
Trapped in the submerged vehicle, Kelly cannot see where she is or how far she is from the driver. The impact, darkness, and rising water undermine her ability to orient herself: she gropes for the broken steering wheel, tries to reason out the position of the doors, and struggles to preserve a pocket of air. The prospect of reaching Brockden's Landing gives way to the immediate problem of breathing and escape. The ferry route’s failed arrival therefore opens onto the central crisis of Kelly’s entrapment and drowning, while the abandoned road remains a concrete cause of the danger that brought them there.
