Gunner by Judy Andrekson Read Free Book Online

Communications were completely down, and roads and transportation systems were non-functional, so she had no way of finding out if her family was all right. Horror stories of lost loved ones were flooding the corridors of the hospital, and Heather could only hope they had made it through safely.
    In Picayune, Maria’s farm was safe. The house had made it through unscathed. The barn roof was ruined but repairable. But she, too, was isolated, with no means of reaching her daughter, the ranch, or other family members. She was desperately worried.
    When E.W. and Wes emerged after the storm finally died down, their world had completely changed. A large tree had smashed through the middle of their house and almost every window had been blown out. The heavy rains had poured in and many belongings were ruined.
    The big hay barn, where they had been sheltered, sustained little damage, while another, beside it, was torn to pieces. Trees were down, farm items were scattered – sometimes surprising distances from where they had started – and everything was under water. Longstretches of fencing were destroyed. It was almost too much to take in. E.W. barely knew where to start.
    It took an enormous effort to get his emotions in check and smile down at little Wes, who was staring around with wide eyes.
    “Looks like we have a lot of work to do before Mama comes home,” E.W. said, as cheerily as he could. He was hoping beyond hope that Heather
would
be coming home. He had no way of knowing how she was, and he was extremely worried.
    Luckily, the horse trailer made a very comfortable temporary home. It was a luxury model with a complete apartment in the front end, and Wes had lived in it often enough while on the road with his mother. E.W. made it into an adventure, and the pair of them gathered food and clothes and water from their damaged house and set up their new home for a long-term stay.
    Over the next few days, they took stock of the situation on the rest of the farm. They were constantly amazed by how far the hurricane had blown so many heavy items. The long, slow process of cleaning up began. They cared for the animals that had survived the storm, and buried the ones that did not. They repaired fences to hold the ones that staggered back home and began to ride out each day in search of the ones thatwere still lost. Many cattle were missing, and some of the horses had crossed downed fence lines and were found in the far reaches of the ranch or on neighboring farms. Some were injured and needed attention. Within a week, they had found almost all of the lost animals, but one horse was still missing. Even after days of searching, E.W. could not find Gunner anywhere.
    The other horses in Gunner’s pasture were still there. All E.W. could figure was that before the storm, Gunner must have crossed the broad stream that ran through the middle of the field, probably on one of his curious adventures. When Katrina’s rains had come and turned the stream into a wide and fast-running river, he could not get back and had wandered off in an attempt to escape the frightening winds and flying debris. He was a pampered show horse, after all. He was like a captive animal, suddenly set free to fend for himself. His chances of survival when on the loose were far below those of a naturally kept horse.
    In New Orleans, Heather was oblivious to all of this, but growing more desperate for word about her husband, son, and mother with every passing day. She and the other care providers at the hospital were working in grim conditions. Touro was still the only hospital open in the whole of New Orleans, and theirresources were quickly running low. They were evacuating as many of the movable patients as they could, but the beds were full and hurricane victims would continue to arrive for weeks to come. Temperatures were sweltering – almost unbearable – and there was no air conditioning or running water. Electricity production from the generators was