Opal was the daughter of two Plains farmers, Liza and Dodd. One year before Opal was born, Liza and Dodd found many small opals that made them rich and they named their daughter after the stones that had brought them such joy. Because of the many dangers of the Plains, Opal was never left unguarded. Even when she was old enough to be allowed outside, she could never leave the farm and wore a veil to protect her from the bees and leather boots and gloves to protect her from the plains scorpions and fighting spiders.