Kitten tilted her head, studying the expressions that flickered over Martha's face. She might not be human, but she had spent enough time around them that she was a fairly good judge of faces. What she saw there eroded some of her anger and restored a little bit of faith. She chirped a few times, reassurances

Did you have a way to know their intent before now? If they harm anyone after I release them, I am largely responsible. I can understand them, though, so I am better able to calculate the risk than others in the city.

She recognized the guilt, and she did not want Martha carrying it.