Catcher in the Rye - Chapter 9

The grand clock at Penn Station had struck half past eleven when a tall, lanky boy of an obvious youth had stepped on to the arrival platform. He carried a large suitcase, too big of a size for the boy to be leisurely travelling alone. The Pencey Prep sticker on one of his Gladstones explained everything; he was returning from school. However, no apparent parent was thereto welcome him home. In fact the station was quite deserted. Curiously enough, the boy went into a phone booth.

What he did in the next twenty minutes was even more confusing. He stood inside with the phone grasped by his hands with a face which became increasingly distorted. His fingers would flinch to dial a number every few minutes but then a look of apprehension would cross his face as he thought about it. His fingers ended up dialling nobody. His shoulders drooped and he trudged out of the booth. As sadness filled his eyes, he picked up his bag and caught a cab.

Whether this boy had a destination in the beginning is a good question as the cab driver was told a wrong address at the start. However, the boy only seemed to be fascinated about the ducks or in other words, he seemed desperate to know where they all went when they could not live in the lake anymore. He became upset when the cab driver could not give him an answer. Interestingly, the lost boy did not return home but booked into a small hotel.