This is a story that features Archie and Veronica, and the reason why it's serious is because one of them almost dies because of carelessness and complacency. It should serve as a reminder to all of us that we should all practice safety no matter what because you never know when tragedy can strike.
So, this is kind of a weird situation because this story is credited to several different characters depending on where the reprint is found. For instance, the story is credited to Veronica in the book where I got today's scans from (Archie's Double Digest #58). But the original source is found in "Archie at Riverdale High #36". Which is bizarre because the story doesn't even take place at Riverdale High, but that's beside the point.
No, our setting for this tale is Lodge Mansion, and we're going to watch as Veronica and Archie arrive in the story called "Fireball".
It's always a nerve-wracking experience whenever Archie walks inside Veronica's house because usually something very expensive gets destroyed - usually by Archie. So imagine the shock when it's Veronica who throws her hat on a table and breaks an antique vase on the ground. Archie is shocked - mainly because for once he's NOT the one breaking things. But he's also shocked that Veronica seems to not care about what she just did. Mr. Lodge comes out to see what happened and it's almost expected that he'll get Smithers to throw him out. But when he realizes that it's Veronica that broke it, he sighs and tells Archie that the vase is about four thousand years old. Veronica scoffs that it's about time that they get a new vase, and Archie tells Veronica off, saying that what she did was careless and she should know better.
Whoa! Where's THIS Archie when Veronica tries to manipulate him into spending money he doesn't have?
Anyway, it appears that Mr. and Mrs. Lodge are going to be away for the night, and in addition, Smithers and the rest of the mansion staff have the night off. It'll be just Veronica at home tonight, and Veronica insists that she will be okay by herself because she's a big girl. Mr. Lodge hopes that is the case as he tells Veronica to lock the house. Oh, and because Mr. Lodge doesn't trust Archie to be alone with his daughter, he tells Archie that he needs to beat it too.
As soon as Archie and Mr. Lodge leaves, Veronica rolls her eyes, scoffs at how they treat her like a child, and walks towards the kitchen. She decides that she will make dinner for herself, but she will eat it the same way all rich people do. She will take a tray up to her room and eat it in bed. That actually sounds like a fun idea. I just hope she doesn't make herself something with a lot of crumbs.
After getting dressed for bed and putting on her favourite record on her record player (making this story very much a 1970s story), she eats her dinner by the light of a candle that happens to be on the tray. It sounds like a luxurious way to spend a night.
It seems as though the dinner that Veronica made (and I'm assuming she did NOT cook it herself because we all know what a disaster she is in the kitchen) was very delicious and filled her up. It's not long before she's yawning and ready to turn in for the night. It doesn't take much time for her to fall fast asleep, but in her state of tiredness, she forgets to do one important thing. She forgets to blow out the candle that was on her dinner tray. As Veronica settles into a deep sleep, the candle falls onto her bed and ignites the sheets on the bed.
Carelessness strikes again. Only this time, it's Veronica that could end up losing everything. Her bed. Her room. Her life. Whatever is she going to do?
Fortunately, Archie has a nagging feeling that something just isn't right at the Lodge Mansion, and despite Mr. Lodge telling Archie no more than a couple of hours earlier not to come to the Lodge Mansion, Archie decides that he has to check on her. And it's probably a good thing that he does because he arrives at the mansion just as Veronica has opened up a window to call for help.
Now, I'm just saying - wouldn't opening a window cause the fire to cause a flashover and turn Veronica into a grilled rich girl? But I suppose in comic books, we can ignore scientific evidence because she's in trouble and Archie is the only one that can save her. A passerby comes up and Archie tells him to call the fire department while he tries to rescue her. Wouldn't 911 be a faster way? I mean, just saying.
Now, assuming that Veronica's bedroom is completely engulfed (minus the one area of the room where Veronica just happens to be), Archie really doesn't have time to waste. He needs to find a way to get to Veronica's bedroom as fast as possible. Fortunately, there is a way. You see the ivy that encircles the house? One of those paths leads directly to the window. It's a long shot, but if the ivy holds, Archie can climb the ivy outside the window and get Veronica out that way.
The firemen put the fire out, and luckily they confine it to just the one room, so no harm really done - though I imagine Veronica will have quite a story to tell her parents when they come home to find her bedroom completely burned up. Archie is happy for two reasons. Obviously Veronica being safe from the fire is one...but he's also happy that the fire happened because now Mr. Lodge won't kill him for disobeying his orders.
Oh, Archie...
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