franciele 'franny' foxglove, d5 — fin

The Foxglove family lives on a vast expanse of land, far from the town center of District Five. A ranch sprawls around their home, a three-story, old-fashioned looking country house, painted white, with four large columns, balconies with rocking chairs and decorative plants on each floor, and an emerald green roof with matching shutters. There are several enclosures spread across the estate, some filled with livestock, but others with exotic animals. The Foxgloves also have many of their own pets, each of the children having at least three.

Franny has lots of pets — a palomino horse named Sunshine, a hamster named Rusty, a Basset hound named Charlie. But her favorite is Poppy, a ginger-colored fox that follows her everywhere she goes. Poppy is outfitted with a red color with a small golden bell that jingles when she runs; Franny always knows when Poppy scampers around the garden, or when she trots up behind her, as the bell always gives her away.

The Foxgloves have bred various animals for the Capitol for generations, even before the Dark Days. There are fewer and fewer of their kind each generation as more people convert to District Five's new industry, but the demand for the Foxgloves' pets keeps them in business — and it keeps them wealthy, too.

There are not many rich families in District Five, but the Foxgloves are one of the handful. They live on the outskirts near the woods, the hedges that mark the grounds around the sprawl of their house only a few yards away from the fence that separates Five from the wilderness. Franny longs to see what is beyond it, but her parents have warned her not to when she ventured too close once. They wouldn't want their own daughter breaking the rules and endangering the business they have cultivated for nearly a century — and the privilege that comes with it.

Franny has always been cordial, polite, and well-mannered. She upholds the etiquette of the old days that her parents and grandparents have always held dear, from the way they hold utensils when they eat to way they carry themselves. Franny is also responsible and minds her parents' rules. Not like Fern, she's always getting herself into trouble, always pushing the limits of the rules their parents have put in place. Fern thinks Franny is stuck-up, a know-it-all. But Franny thinks Fern is reckless and short-sighted; she acts before she thinks, and never knows when to keep her mouth shut. Since Franny is the older one, her parents often pass the responsibility of taking care of her little sister, as most of their days are occupied by their work. Sometimes her grandmother comes over to watch them, but she is old and feeble, and can't run after Fern when she takes off.

She and her grandmother have always been close. She taught Franny how to sew when she was young, and they still sit down and make quilts together on the living room sofa while Fern occupies herself by pulling apart her toys. Her grandmother is an austere, rather sour old woman, but beneath her hard exterior is a kind, but tired heart. Franciele and Fern are the dearest things to her — even when she yells at Fern for making a mess that now she and Franny have to clean up.

Franciele takes it upon herself to be the one who puts up with Fern's antics, as her grandmother quickly tires from it. In the morning, Franciele helps her younger sister, Fern, brush her hair. She whines and complains during the entire process; her efforts to be gentle are to little avail, as Fern is so tender-headed that brushing out even the smallest of tangles makes her wince. In the afternoon, Franny keeps an eye on Fern while she stitches clothing — she often makes her own garments — on the rocking char of the porch that overlooks the backyard. At night, she makes sure Fern doesn't stay up past her bedtime and peeks her head into her bedroom, where Fern pretends to be asleep until Franny goes away.