Maggie Newton is a teenage runaway who befriends the Partridge Family.
Background[]
Maggie's mother is dead. Her father, an archaeologist, is alive, but he moves around constantly, and it was decided that she should live with her grandparents in Nebraska in order to have a stable upbringing. Her grandparents despise her father and don't let them have any contact besides swapping pictures at Christmas. Maggie misses her father, who is currently working on a dig in Albuquerque. Every two weeks Maggie runs away to be with him. She's always caught somewhere near Albuquerque.
On the series[]
Maggie meets the Partridge Family by chance in a restaurant in a remote area of New Mexico. She asks them for a ride to Albuquerque. As they drive, Maggie tells the younger kids tall tales about her adventurous life of exotic travel. When they arrive at the hotel, Maggie takes off, saying she's going to meet up with a friendly band of wandering Basque sheepherders. Shirley and Keith Partridge don't believe her and don't like the idea of letting her wander around the mountains alone at night, but have no way of stopping her from leaving. Maggie sleeps on the bus. The next morning, Shirley tells Maggie that the police were looking for her, but she doesn't know why. Maggie lies that the police just wanted to tell her that her father was sick. They resume the journey to Albuquerque, but stop along the way in the small town of Kumquist. Maggie, thinking Shirley is about to call the police, pretends to take a shower and escapes through the bathroom window. She's hitchhiking in the hills outside Kumquist when she spots the Partridge bus. She runs away from the road. The Partridges pull over and chase her. She hides while they go past, sneaks onto the bus, and tries to drive away. The family returns to find her on the bus. They tell her that they're taking her to Albuquerque. Once they arrive, Maggie is happily reunited with her father. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Otterby arrives to pick her up and take her back to Nebraska. At first Maggie refuses to go, but eventually Mr. Otterby and Mr. Newton agree that she'll stay with the Otterbys during the school year, and with Mr. Newton during summer and Christmas break.