Gold Fever

A young couple on vacation stops at a ‘pan your own gold’ place in central Idaho. Jill is a natural and recovers $50 in gold. He buys a very old Spanish book in the next college town They go to see Jill’s friend, Sally who is going to college. She is trying to map what the Mexican border will look like in 500 years.
Sally becomes friend with a computer guy that tries to help with free computer time and personal help. He has a desk that acts like a keyboard if you are not careful.
The computer maps of the future Rio Grande river boundary are what she wants. But with the incredibly old book the boys try to compare her maps with those found in the binding of the old book.
The maps are so large the only way to see them all at one time is when they hang them on the bedroom walls. Of course, that mean many unusual noises coming from the bedroom and the neighbors think what neighbors do.
Eons before the maps were made or the book was written, there is a sever drought in all the land. The Royal Brother builds a strange serpent of water to save the empire. The Ruler of the all the lands uses records even old on how to appease the Gods and return the rain to the land.
A vast caravan of men and animals travel years to the double rivers to present their offering. It is all buried with no witness left to tell the tale.
Sally’s map goes crazy on a pair of Cray computers. The fastest in the world. The old book’s map and the computer map match to closely to be an accident. But the computer map has a date of !&#(bc. Sally map was to be 500 years into the future. How could they ever compare? And two rivers in the southwest?
What happened when they were eating on the desk? Did the desk do something and what is the usual offering to the gods?
Ted, Jill’s husband and owner of the old book notices, “If we assume two rivers flowing south, and then a terrible earthquake happens near the head waters. It changes one river to fall into the Grand Canyon. This explains why only the few bottom feet of the Canyon shows any water erosion.