#106 THE MAGIC GATE       (Original air date: 10/15/96)
 

Written by:	E.F. Wallengren and R.J. Colleary
Directed by:	Burt Brinckerhoff
Produced by:	Martha Williamson, Jon Andersen & R.J. Visciglia, Jr.

Guest Cast:

Molly Arnold	Valerie Harper
Brian Drake	Eugene Roche
Cynthia Morrison	Victoria Mallory

The Greene family stops in the fictional town of Logan's Crossing, West Virginia to visit local celebrated children's author, Molly Arnold (played by Valerie Harper). Nathaniel is especially excited about the prospect of meeting his favorite writer. The Greenes arrive late, just missing Molly at a public appearance. Russell and Claire make a special trip to Molly's house in the hopes of enabling Nathaniel to meet his favorite author but are turned away by Ms. Arnold's assistant. Nathaniel sneaks away unnoticed and manages to sneak onto Molly's property. Molly's assistant is about to turn Nathaniel over to the police, but Molly takes him inside her magical library and reads to him. The story takes an unexpected turn when Nathaniel discovers that Molly is an addict. When Nathaniel returns home, traumatized by what he's seen, Russell gets involved and discovers the tight circle surrounding this troubled woman are standing in the way of her recovery. Russell's intervention paves the way for Molly's realization that she needs to be hospitalized. Nathaniel comes to visit Molly in the hospital as she recovers. Also: Dinah and Josh set their grandmother (Hattie) up on a blind date.

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