The Map Room: A Short Story

By S. R. Mallery

When someone with mental problems believes they've seen the truth, will they be taken seriously? Enter Cynthia Haddington. Pretty, rich, and madly in love with her handsome husband, Thomas. During WWII, as fear of Japanese invasion on the United States West Coast and German spies infiltrating the East Coast heats up, Cynthia is sure of one thing. Now, if only she can get her family to listen to her...

• Language: English
• Publisher: S. R. Mallery
• Release date: Jan 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781386142911

S. R. Mallery

A USA TODAY Best Selling author and two-time READERS' FAVORITE GOLD MEDAL winner, S. R. Mallery--as her fans say--"brings history to life." They say I'm as eclectic as my characters. I've been a singer, a composer, a calligrapher, a quilt artist, and an ESL/Reading teacher. But it is the world of writing historical fiction and time travel that I feel I've truly come "home." Why? Because then I get to do my second love: Research.  

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Table of Contents

THE MAP ROOM | (This also appears in Tales To Count On)

THE MAP ROOM

(This also appears in Tales To Count On)

THE MANSION WAS THE exact same age as its owner. Stately, iconic, blessed with a fine Mediterranean structure, it boasted of a fascinating history along with a dignified skyline jutting slightly above its neighbors’ properties––proof positive that important places merit special recognition.

During WWII, it had housed the California Watch Division, a special adjunct to the National Guard, and the comfortable building served them well. So well, they designated the large, separate wing on the SE corner as the Map Room. There, captains, lieutenants, strategists, and topographers met daily, pouring over atlases while discussing the vulnerability of their location to enemy submarines, present just below the Pacific Ocean’s surface.

Seth Haddington III had purchased it in 1922 as a haven for his family and friends, but soon viewed it as a major real estate venture that could possibly garner him thousands of dollars sometime in the distant future. Therefore, in 1942 he had no call to sell it, deciding instead to use it for a higher purpose––an open door policy for the prestigious California Watch Division.

It was a harrowing time. After Pearl Harbor, paranoia of new Japanese attacks ran rampant throughout most of California, and although people of the German extraction were