Indio, California, Fall, 1936
Barbara felt safe again the next morning, flying in her Piper Cub to Jackie Cochran's ranch in Indio, southeast of San Bernardino and Palm Springs, in the desert near the Little San Bernardino Mountains. She still cringed at the thought of Chet Armstrong, but was glad she had again escaped him and was where he couldn't get to her.
Before leaving her airport, she had taken Becky for the ride she promised, then made two phone calls. The first was to Moose, to thank him again and ask what had happened after she left the hangar.
"Like you asked me, I didn't hurt him," Moose said. "I just had a little barnyard fun with him. I had him strip and walk around on his hands and feet and make noises like a pig, then a jackass."
Oh, my God! Barbara thought. It might have been better to hit him, than humiliate him. "Then I let him go, but warned him not to bother you again."
She thanked Moose, but hoped he hadn't made things worse, if that were possible.
Afterward, Barbara phoned Leila, to ask her again to go with her to Indio, but again she declined.
Barbara flew her Cub southward over the San Gabriel Mountains, then east over San Bernardino and southeastward over Palm Springs. Like most other pilots, she navigated by compass and flying low, by sight and following road maps that led her over landmarks such as rivers, roads, the desert, mountains, towns and cities, bridges, and water towers.
She smelled Cochran's ranch outside Indio before she actually saw it, when the fragrance of fruit blossoms rose a mile high to reach her aloft. Wondering where the aroma came from while over the Mohave Desert, she looked down and marveled at the spread. The ranch seemed to just emerge out of the sandy expanse like an oasis or a mirage, bordered by flower and fruit and vegetable gardens, date palms and citrus trees.
After falling in love with the desert, even though temperatures in summer reached 130 degrees Fahrenheit, Cochran had started her ranch with twenty acres she bought once her cosmetics business became a success. Later, after marrying Floyd Odlum, a New York lawyer who became one of the ten richest men in America through his investments, 900 more acres were added. It became known as the Cochran-Odlum Ranches, named alphabetically, with a large Spanish-style house and separate guest houses, outdoor swimming pool, and nine-hole golf course.
Barbara brought her plane down on a landing strip to one side of the ranch where several other planes stood near two hangars. One of the servants greeted her and drove her to the main house. A woman only a few years older than she, wearing bluejeans and cowboy shirt, waved to her from the shaded front porch. She was tall but almost frail-looking, a very pretty brown-eyed and curly blonde-haired woman.